
Class J3X<p_25_3 

Book ._ JS 4> 

Copyright^ ' 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK: 



A COMPILATION 

OF THE 

HISTORY OF GOD'S PEOPLE 

',,.,-; FROM 

THE CREATION OF THE WORLD 

TOTBE 

PRESENT DAY, AS FOUND IN SACRED AND 

PROFANE HISTORY, CHURCH REC- 

P) 

ORDS, DOCUMENTS, &c. 

by '" ; : V 9 
J. K. BOOTON, 

LURAY, VA. 

1902. 



Bound By 
WEYMOUTH, MEISTER & SMETHIK 
Richmond, Va. 



.1 



THr LIBRARY OF 

CON^RFSS, 
T>«o Co»i. Received 

5. 26 190 

Copyright entov 
Ci ass <C KXo So. 

5 ^ cj or 



Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1902, by J. K. Booton 
in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



Printed By 

HURST AND COMPANY 

Luray, Va. 



A 1 l 



PREFACE. 



Prompted by the belief that there is ,i need for 
such a book, I have compiled the following selec- 
tions from Holy Writ, and from commentators, 
church works and historians, who as authority stand 
uncontradicted, pointing out the way by which God 
has led His people frorfc Ohe creation of man down to 
the present. Choosing from the above mentioned 
authorities only such matter as is pertinent and 
strictly to the point, and supplementing it with such 
explanations as I deem necessary, I have sought to 
make just such a brief but comprehensive and con- 
clusive book, as the devout but busy Christian de- 
mands. 

Having so extensively quoted from Dr. Gill's 
Commentaries on the Scriptures, it is perhaps neces- 
sary that I should give a sketch of his life. I therefore 
copy the following from his history: 

"John Gill, son of Edward and Elizabeth Gill, 
was born in Northamptonshire, England, November, 
23rd (O. S.), 1697. 

"His parents were ! articular Baptist, and he be- 
came a member of that denomination. There has 
been two parties among the Antipeedobaptist in Eng- 
land ever since the beginning of the Reformation; 
those who have followed the Calvinistic scheme of 
doctrines, from the principal point therein, personal 
election, have been termed Particular Baptists, and 
those who have professed the Arminian or Remon- 
strants' tenents, have also from the chief of their doc- 



IV PREFACE. 

trines, universal redemption, been called General 
Baptists. 

"In early life this wonderful youth developed ex- 
traordinary intellectual capacity for learning, and 
indifatigable energy in search of it. 

"So great was his proficiency, erudition and schol- 
arship that the Maristical University honored him 
with a diploma 'for his well known extraordinary 
proficiency in sacred literature, the original tongues 
and Jewish antiquities and those moral qualities 
which become and adorn a pious life.' 

"His works are his expositions of the Old and 
New Testament, nine volumes, folio; Exposition of 
Canticles; The Cause of God and of Truth, each, one 
volume, quarto; and Sermons and Tracts, published 
after his death, in three volumes, quarto. 

"The glorious termination of his life was without 
a sigh, or a groan, on the 14th day of October 1771, 
at about eleven o'clock a. m., at his residence in 
Camberwell, Surry, age 73 years, nine months and 
ten days." 

See life of Dr. John Gill, 1st Vol. of his Commen- 
taries. 

From his voluminous, learned and most critical 
comments, I have made most of my extracts, using 
only such portions of them as I deem pertinent to 
this work, and designate them with quotation marks. 
All the other authors quoted from, have their names 
iriven. 

In all instances the Scripture cited have the 
book, chapter and verse given, 

J. K. B. 



CONTENTS. 



Pagk 

CHAPTER 1. THK CREATION OK MAN . . 1 



n 



II. THE FALL OK MAN . . .11 

III. POSTERITY INVOLVED IN THE FALL 33 

IV. THE CALL OF ABRAHAM . . 43 
V. GOD'S COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM . 54 

VI. RENEWAL OF THE COVENANT , 82 

VII. HISTORY OF ISAAC .. . . 85 

VIII. HISTORY OF JACOB . . 88 

IX. HISTORY OF JOSEPH . . 100 

X. THE LIFE OF MOSES . . . 109 

XI. JOSHUA AND HIS SUCCESSORS . 137 

XII. THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL . 141 

XIII. LOOKING FORWARD TO CHRIST . 144 

XIV. THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST - 148 

XV. THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST . .154 

XVI. THE TEMPIATION OF CHRIST . 159 

XVII. CHRIST'S MINISTRY . . .166 

XVIII. REGENERATION .... 177 

XIX. ELECTION AND FINAL PRESER- 
VATION . . 190 

XX. THE FLOCK . . . . 192 

XXI. JUSTIFICATION .... 195 



vi contents. 

Page. 

CiiAP. XXll. PREDESTINATION . . . 219 

" XTtll. KXH)Tr VTIONS; FAITH . . 227 

XXIV. OTHER APOSTOLIC WRITINGS . 229 

XXV. FIRST CENTURY AFTEK CHRIST 241 

XXVI. SECOND CENTURY AFTER CHRIST 252 

XXV f I. EARLY REFORMERS . . 256 

XXVIII. THE WALDENSES . . . 260 

XXIX. THE DAWN OF THE REFORMATION 265 

XXX. MARTIN LUTHER . , 269 

XXXI. THE DOCTRINE OF THE REFORMERS 276 

XXXTI. THE LONDON ARTICLES OF FAITH 277 

XXXTIT. THE HoRSLEYDOWN CONFESSION 330 

XXXIV. THE RISE OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 334 

XXXV. THE PHILADELPHIA ASSOCIATION 340 

XXXVI. THE KEHUKEE ASSOCIATION 351 

XXXVII. THE KETOCTON ASSOCIATION 355 

XXXVIII. BAPTIST MISSIONS IN AMERICA 359 

XXXIX. THE BLACK ROCK CONVENTION 367 

XL. RAPPAHANNOCK ASSOCIATION 386 

XLI. THE EBKNEZER ASSOCIATION 388 

XLII. THE F< OTPRINTS OF THE FJ.OCK 

TO-DAY. . . 403 



CHAPTER I. 

THE CREATION OF MAX. 

Gen. I. 26. And God said. Let us make man, in our 
image, after our likeness: and let them have 
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl 
of the air and over the cattle, and over all the earth, 
and over every creepiog thing that creepeth upon the 
earth. 

"These words are spoken by God the Father to the 
Son and Holy Ghost, who were each of them concern- 
ed in the creation of all tilings, particularly man; be- 
cause we read of divine Creators and Makers in the 
plural number. Job, xxxv. 10: But none 
s a i t h where is God my maker w h o 
giveth songs in the night. Psa. ciL, 2: 
Let Israel rejoiced in him that made him and let the 
children of Zion rejoice in their King — see Eccl. xn. 
1. Philo the jew acknowledges that these words de- 
clare a plurality and are expressive of others being co- 
workers with God in creation; and man being the 
principal part of the creation, for whom the world 
and all things in it were made, which being finished, 
he is introduced into it as into a house ready prepared 
and furnished for him; a consultation is held among 
the Divine Persons about the formation of him; not 
because of any difficulty attending it, but as express- 
ive of his honor and dignity: it being proposed he 
should be made, not in the likeness of any of the 
creatures already made, but as near as could be, in 
l 



2 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

the likeness and image of God. And let them have 
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl 
of th* air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, 
and over every creeping thing 1hat crecpeth vpcn ihe 
earth". 

Gen. I. 27. So God created man in his own image, 
in the image of God created he him; male and female 
created he them. 

"Which consisted both in the form of his body and 
erect stature of it; different from all other creatures 
and in agreement with the idea of that body, prepar- 
ed in covenant for the Son of God. and which it was 
therein agreed he should assume in the fulness of 
time; and in the immortality of his soul, and in his 
intellectual powers, and in that purity, holiness, and 
righteousness in which he was created; as well as in 
his dominion, power and authority over the creatures, 
in which he was as God's vice-gerent and resembled 
him. In the image of God created he him; which is 
repeated for the certainty of it, that ir might be taken 
notice of, as showing man's superior glory and dig- 
nity to the rest of the creatures. 1 Cor. ix, 7. Male 
and female created he them; God first made man, or 
the male, out of the dust of the earth, and breathed 
into him the breath of life, and then made a female 
or woman, out of one of his ribs, who was presented 
to him as his wife. One male and one female were 
created, to show that hereafter a man was to have, 
at a time, but one wife — see Mai. xx, 15; Math. xx. 
4." 

Gen. I. 28. And God blessed them, and God said 
unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish 
the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the 
fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air. and 
over every living thing that movetli upon the earth. 



THE CREATION OF MAN. 6 

"The man and the woman he had made, with all 
the blessings of nature and providence; with all the 
good things of life; with his presence and commun- 
ion with him in a natural way, through the creatures 
and particularly with power of procreating their- 
species, as follows: and God said unto them be fruit- 
ful, and multiply, and replenish the earth] if this is 
not an express command as the Jews understand it, 
for marriage and procreation of children, it seems to 
be more than a bare permission;at least it is a direction 
and an advice to what is proper and convenient for 
the increase of mankind, and for the filling of the 
earth with inhabitants, which was the end of its be- 
ing made, Isa. xiv. 18. This shows that marriage is 
an ordinance of God, instituted in paradise and is 
honorable; and subdue it, the earth; not that it was 
in the hands of others, who had no right to it, and to 
conquer it, and take it out of their hands; but it is to 
be understood of their taking possession and 
making use of it: and have dominion over 
the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, and 
over everything that moveth upon the face of the 
earth; which was giving them an universal and un- 
limited dominion over all the creatures, of which 
see an inumeration in Psal. vin. 6, 7, 8". 

Gen. I. 29. And God said, Behold I have given 
you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the 
face of all the earth, and every tree. in the which is the 
fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for 
meat. 

"That is, to Adam and Eve, whom he had made 
in his image and likeness, and to whom he had given 
dominion of the earth and sea, and all things in them: 
behold I have given you every herb bearing seed, which 
is upon the face of all the earth; every herb or plant, 
which had a seed in it, by which it sowed itself again 



4 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

or being taken off, might be sown by man, even every 
one that was wholesome, healthful and nourishing, 
without any exception whatever; in any part of the 
earth, be it where it wouid-.and every tree, in the which 
is the fruit of a ti ee yielding seed; all but the tree of 
the knowledge of good and evil, afterwards excepted; 
both these take in all kinds of vegetables.herbs. plants 
roots, even corn, wheat, barley, peas, beans. &c.,and 
the various fruits of all sorts of trees, but that men- 
tioned: to you it shall be for meat; which is generally 
thought to be the food of the Antediluvians, it not be- 
ing proper, at least very soon, to kill any animals, 
until they were multiplied and increased, lest their 
species should be destroyed." 

Gen, I. 30. And to every beast of the earth, and to 
every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creep- 
-eth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have 
given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 

"Wild or tame beast, the cattle upon a thousand 
hills; all God's creatures are provided for. 7 ' 

Gen. II. 7. And the Lord God formed man of the 
of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nos- 
trils the breath of life; and man became a living 
soul. 

Gen. II. 8. And the Lord God planted a garden 
eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he 
had formed 

"And the Lord God planted a garden eastward 
in Eden; or had planted ; for this was not done after 
he had made man, bit before, and so the word trans- 
lated eastward may be rendered, before, for the plain 
meaning is, God had planted a garden before he 
made man, even on the third day, when all herbs and 
plants and trees were produced out of the earth. 

la 



THE CREATION OF MAX. 5 

The whole world was a garden in comparison of what 
it now is; what tlien must this spot of ground, this 
garden; have been, which was separated and distin- 
guished from the r^st, and the more immediate plan- 
tation of God, therefore is called the garden of the 
Lord, Gen. xlii, 10; Ezek. xxm, 13. This garden was 
planted in the country of Eden." 

Gen. II. 9. And out of the ground made the Lord 
God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight 
and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of 
the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and 
evil. 

"That is out of the ground of the garden of Eden 
this was done on the third day, when the whole earth 
brought forth grass, herbs and trees; but a peculiar 
spot of ground was fixed on for man, and stocked 
with trees of all sorts for his use, not only to bear 
fruit, for his food, but others also which would yield 
him delight to look at, &c. These trees may be em- 
blems of the saints, the trees of righteosness,the plan- 
ting of the Lord; and made to grow by him through 
the influence of his Spirit and grace, whom he plants 
in his garden, the churches, and transplants into the 
heavenly paradise, and are often compared to palm- 
trees, cedars, olive trees. pomegranates, &c, The tree of 
life, also, in the midst of the garden; set there as the 
most excellent place, where it might be most conspic- 
ious, and to be 'come at, for before Adam sinned 
there was no prohibition to his eating of it, so there 
was no obstacle to it; and as he had a grant to eat 
of it, with the other trees, it was designed for his 
support, and maintainance of his natural life, which 
would have continued, had he persisted in his obedi- 
ance and state of innocence, and probably by means of 
this chiefly; and it might be also a sign and token to 
to him of his dependence on God; that he received 



b FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

his life from, and that he was preserved by his 
blessing and providence and not by his own power 
and skill, and that this would be continued, provided 
he transgressed not the divine law, and it seemed to 
have a future respect, even to eternal life by Christ, 
for though it might be a symbol of that life to Adam 
in his state of innocence, and it became so after his 
fall; hence Christ is sometimes signified by the tree 
of life. Prov. in, 18; Rev. Ii, 7, who is not only the 
author of natural and spiritual life, but the giver of 
eternal life the promise of it is in him, and the bless- 
ing itself; he has made way for it by his obedience, 
sufferings and death, and is the way unto it; it is 
his, his gift, and he bestows it on his people, and it 
will lie greatly in the enjoyment of him. The situa- 
tion of this tree in the midst of the garden well agrees 
with him who is in the midst of his church and peo* 
pie, Rev. i, 13, and n, 7; stands open, is in sight, and 
accessible to all now, who may come to him, and par- 
take of the fruits and blessings of his grace, which 
are many, constant and durable,Rev.xxu, 2, and who 
will be seen and enjoyed by all, to all eternity; and 
the tree of knoivledge of good and evil; so called, 
either with respect to God, who by it tried man, when 
he had made him, whether he would be good or evil, 
but this he foreknew; rather therefore with respect to 
man, not that the eating the fruit of it could really 
give him such knowledge, nor did it, for by the law 
of nature inscirbed on his heart, he knew the difference 
between good and evil, and that what God command- 
ed vvas good, and what he forbid was evil, but either 
it had it's name from the virtue Satan ascribed to it, 
chap, in, 5, or from the sad event following on man's 1 
eating the fruit of it; whereby he became experimen- 
tally sensible of the difference between good and 
evil, between obedience and disobedience to the will of 



THE CREATION OF MAN. 7 

Gcd; he found by sad experience what good he had 
lost, or might have enjoyed, and what evil he had 
brought upon himself and his posterity, and what 
evil he might have avoided." 

Gen. II. 15. And Lord God took the man, and put 
him into the garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep 
it. 

"This is observed before in ver. 8, and is here re- 
peated to introduce what follows; and is to be under- 
stood, not of a corporeal assumption, by a divine 
power lifting him up from the place where he was, 
but that he ordered and directed him thither; perhaps 
no more is intended by this expression, than that 
God spoke to him or impressed it on his mind, and 
inclined him to go, or stay thereto dress it and to keep 
it; so that it seems man was not to live an idle life in 
a state of innocence; but this could not be attended 
with toil and labor, with fatigue and trouble, with 
sorrow and sweat, as after the fall, but rather for re- 
creation and pleasure; though what by nature was 
left to be improve 1 by art ami what there was for 
Adam to do, is not easy to say: at present there need- 
ed no plowing, nor sowing, nor planting, nor water- 
ing, since God had made every thing pleasant to the 
sight, and good for food, fro grow in it." 

G2ji. II. 16. And the Lord God commanded the man, 
saying of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely 
eat. 

"Commanded the man over whom he had power 
and authority, and he had a right to command him 
what he pleased, being his Creator, Benefactor and 
Preserver, and this ^.s to be understood not of man 
only, but of the woman also, whose creation, though 
related afterward, yet was before this grant to eat 
of all the trees of the garden but one, and the prohib 
tation of the fruit of that, for that she was in being 



§ FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

and present at this time, seems manifest firm chap, 
in. 2, 3: saying, of every tree of the garden thou 
may est freely eat; a very generous, large and liberal 
allowence this; or in eating than mayest eat; which 
was giving full power, and leaving them without any 
doubt-, and uncertainty about their food; which they 
might freely take and eat of, wherever they found it 
or were inclined to, even to any and every tree in the 
garden, excepting one, next forbidden." 

Gen. II. 17. But of the tree of knowledge of good 
and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that 
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 

"Of the name of this tree, and the reason of it, 
see the note on ver. 9: thou shalt not eat of it, not that 
this tree had any efficacy in it to increase know- 
ledge, and improve in science and understanding as 
Satan suggested God knew, and therefore .forbid 
the eating of it out of envy to man, which the divine 
Being is incapable of, or that there was anything 
hurtful in it to the bodies of men, if they had eaten 
of it, or that it was unfawful and evil of itself, if it 
had not been expressly prohibited, but was previous 
to this injunction, a quite indifferent thing whether 
man ate of it or no, and therefore was pitched upon 
as a trial of man's obedience to God, under whose 
government he was, and whom it was fit he should 
obey in all things, and since he had a grant of all the 
trees of the garden but this, it was the greater aggra- 
vation of his offence that he should not abstain from 
it: for in the clay thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely 
die; or in dying, die; which denotes the certainty of 
it, as our version expresses it, and may have regard 
to more deaths than one; not only a corporeal one, 
which in some sense immediately took place; man 
became at once a mortal creature, who otherwise 
continuing in a state of innocence, and by eating of 



THE CREATION OF MAN. V 

the tree of life, "as allowed to do, would have 

lived an immortal life; by the eating of which tree, 
sinning, he was debarred, his natural life, not now to 
be continued long, at least not forever; he was im- 
mediately arraigned, tried and condemned to death, 
was found guilty of it, and became obnoxious to it, 
and death at once began to work in him, sin sowed 
the seeds of it in his body, and a train of miseries, 
affliction and diseases, began to appear, which at 
length issued in death. Moreover a moral death im- 
mediately ensued; he lost his original righteousness, 
in which he was created, the image of God in him 
was deformed; and the powers and faculties of his 
soul were corrupted, and he became dead in trespasses 
the consequence of which, had it not been for the in- 
terposition of a Surety and Saviour, who engaged to 
make satisfaction to law and justice, must have been 
eternal death, or an everlasting separation from God, 
to him and all his posterity; for the wages of sin is 
death eternal." See Rom vi. 23. 

Gen, II. 18. And the Lord God said, It is not 
good that the man should be alone; I will make him 
an help-meet for him 

" Not at the same time he gave the above direc- 
tion and instruction to man, how to behave accord- 
ing to his will, but before that, even at the formation 
of Adam; which he said either to him or with him- 
self; it was a purpose or determination of his own 
mind, and may be rendered, he had said, on the sixth 
day, on which man was created, it is not good that 
man should be alone; not pleasant and comfortable to 
himself, nor agreeable to his nature, being a social 
creature. I will make him an help=meet for him, one 
to help himan all the affairs of life, not only for the 
propagation of his species, but to provide things use- 
ful and comfortable for him, to dress his food and 



10 FOOT STEPS THOFE FLOCK. 

take care of the affairs of the family; one like himself 
in nature, in temper and disposition, pleasing in his 
s-i^ht, with whom he could converse and be entirely 
agreeable to him, and answerable to all his wants." 

Gen. II. 19. And out of the ground the Lord God 
formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the 
air;and brought them unto Adam, to see what he would 
c ill them; an I whatsoever Adam called every living 
creature, that was the name thereof." 

Gen. II. 20. And Adam gave names to all cattle, 
and to the fowls of the air, and to every beast of the 
fieli;but for Aiin tii^r^ wj,4 un founi an help 
meet. 

Gen. II. 21. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep 
to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and he took one of 
of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. 

Gen. II, 22. And the rib, which the Lord God had 
taken from man, mide he a woman, and brought her 
unto the man. 

"It is commonly observed, and pertinently 
enough, that woman was not made from the superior 
part of man, that she might be thought to be above 
him, and have power over him; nor from any inferior 
part, as being below him, to be trampled on by him. 
but out of his side, and from one of his ribs, that she 
might appear equal to him; and from a part near his 
heart, and under his arm, to show that she should be 
affectionately loved by him, and be always under his 
care and protection; and she was not created as man, 
out of nothing, nor formed as Adam was, out of the 
dust of the earth, being in the same form of 
man; but made out of refined 
and quickened dust, or the flesh and 
bones of man, and so in her make and constitution, 
fine and lovely: and brought her unto the nun; he 



THE FALL OF MAN. 11 

brought her as the parent of her, at whose disposal she 
was, and presented her to Adam as his spouse, to be 
taken into conjugal relation with him, and to be 
loved and cherished by; which, as it affords a rule 
and example to be followed by parents and children, 
one to dispose of their children in marriage, and the 
other to have the consent of the parent in it, as well 
as it is a recommendation of marriage, as agreeable 
to the divine will, and to be esteemed honorable, being 
of God; so it was a type of the marriage of Christ, 
the second Adam, between him and his church, 
which sprung from him, from his side, and was given 
by hii* Father— see Eph. v. 29, 32." 



CHAPTER II. 

THE FALL OF MAN. 



Gen. III. 1. Now the serpent was more subtle than 
any beast of the field which the Lord God had made; 
And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye 
shall not eat of every tree of the garden ? 

"Many instances are given of the subtlely of the 
serpent, in hiding their heads when struck at, rolling 
themselves up, stopping their ears at the voice of the 
charmer, putting off their skins, laying in sand of the 
same color with themselves, &c, but it does not ap- 
pear by these, to be any more subtle than any other 
creature, at first creation. The words may be ren- 
dered, that serpent; that particular serpent of which 
so much is spoken of afterwards; or the serpent was 



1-2 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

become or made more subtle: that is, not naturally, 
but through Satan being in it; and using it in a very 
subtle manner, to answer his purpose, and gain his 
point; for though a real serpent and not the mere 
form of one is mmnt,as is cle ir from this account. and 
the curse ifterw mispronounced on it, yet not that 
oily, but as possessed and used by Satan, as an in- 
strument of his, to accomplish his designs, as is evi- 
dent from its having the faculty of speech, and the 
use of reason, employed in a very artful manner, nor 
is it rational to suppose that humanity in the height 
of its glory and excellency, should be outwitted, and 
seduced by a creature so inferior to it; besides, the 
scriptures always ascribe the seduction of man to 
the devil; who, because he acted his deceitful part, 
in and by the serpent, is called the serpent, the old 
serpent, S itan. 2 Cor. xr, 3; Riv. xix, 9." 

Gen. Ill, 2. And the woman said unto the ser- 
pent, We may eat of the trees fruit of theof the gar- 
den. 

"The woman said unto the serpent, or to him 
that spoke in the serpent, which she might take to be 
a messenger from heaven, a holy angel; had she 
known who it was, she might be chargeable with 
imprudence in giving an answer, and carrying on a 
conversion with him, and yet supposing this, she 
might have a goud design in her answer; partly to 
set the matter in true light, and assert what was 
truth and partly to set forth the goodness and liberal- 
ity of God, in the large provission he had made, and 
generous grant he had given them: we may eat of the 
fruit of all the trees of the garden; of every one, 
which is to be understood, except the one after men- 
tioned; so far are we from being debarred from eat- 
ing of any, which the speech of the serpent might 
imply, that they were allowed to eat of what they 
pleased, but one." 



THE FALL OF MAN. 13 

Gen. HI, 3. But of the fruit of the tree which is in 
midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat 
of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 

"This tree stood near the tree of life, as is highly 
probable, since that it is described in the same situa- 
tion, chap, ji, 9; she does not give it a name, which 
perhaps was not yet given it; she was not acquainted 
with it, its name in the preceeding chapter being by 
anticipation, and most likely obtained its name from 
the event, and as yet was without one. God hath 
said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, 
lest ye die. Here the woman is charged by some, 
with adding to, and taking from the law of God; if so 
must have sinned heinously, before she eat of the fruit, 
but neither of them are correct: not the former by her 
saying, neither shall ye touch it, though not expressed 
in the prohibition, is implied, such as toughing the 
fruit, as plucking it off the tree, taking it in the hand 
and putting it to the mouth, in order to eat it; nor 
the latter, by the words, lest ye die, or perhaps ye die; 
as was a matter of doubt, when it was most strong- 
ly asserted; for the word used is not always under- 
stood of doubting, but of the event of a thing: see 
Psa. ii. 12, and may be rendered that ye die not; 
which would certainly be the case should they pluck 
the fruit and eat of it." 

Gen. Ill, 4. And the serpent said unto the woman, 
Ye shall not surely die. 

"In direct contradiction to the divine threatening, 
as if God never intended to put it into excution; so 
that they had nothing to fear from that; God would 
never be so rigid and severe, and hard upon them as to 
put them to death for such an offence, if it was one; 
he only gave out the menace to frighten them and deter 
them from it; however, at most, it was not a certain 



14 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

thing they should die, and they might safely couclude 
they would not." 

Gen. HI. 5. For God doth know, that in the day ye 
eat thereof , then your eyes shall be opened;and ye shall 
be as gods knowing good and evil. 

"God, who knows all things, and has foreknow- 
lege of all things, knows what will be the conse- 
quence of this event, eating of the fruit of this tree, 
that it would be so far from causing death which he 
had threatened, that the effect would be, a clear un- 
derstanding and a greater degree of knowledge of 
things, which he was not willing should be enjoyed 
by them, and therefore had endeavored to prevent it 
by this prohibition, that the day ye eat thereof, then 
your eyes shall be opened; not the eyes of their bodies; 
as if they were now blind, but the eyes of their under- 
standing; meaning, that their knowledge should be 
enlightened, and they should see things more clearly 
than they now did, and judge of them in a better 
ight; yea, bodily eyes would receive seom advantage 
particulariy,that they would see their nakedness, and 
be ashamed of it, as unseemly and indecent: and ye 
shall be as gods, knowing good and evil; this agrees 
with what is ironically said, ver. 22: Behold the man 
is become as one of w.s,asthe devil told him he should, 
and as he believed he would; this was the bait laid 
for man, suited to his Intellectual mind, and to the 
ambitious desires of it, not being content with finite 
knowledge, but aiming at ommiscience or something 
like it; now the tempation began to take place and 
operate." 

Gen. HI. 6. And when the woman saw that the 
tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the 
eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she 



THE FALL OF MAN. 15 

took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave 
also unto hev husband with her; and he die eat. 

' k Slie being near the tree, perhaps just at it, when 
the serpent first attacked her; wherefore looking 
more wishfully at it, she could discern nothing in the 
fruit of it which showed it to be bad, and unfit to be 
eaten, or why it should be forbidden for food; but on 
the contrary, it had a most pleasing appearance, and 
looked delicious, nourishing and salutary, as any 
other fruit in the garden: and that it was pleasant to 
the eyes; of a beautiful color, and very inviting to the 
tuste, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, which 
above all was the most engaging and powerful mo- 
tive to influence her to eat of it; an eager desire for 
more wisdom and knowledge; though there was noth- 
ing in the tree or fruit of it, which could produce this; 
only she perceived in her mind by the discourse she 
had with the serpent, and by what he had told her, 
and she believed, that this would be the result of eat- 
ing of this fruit, and she concluded within herself 
that so it would be: she took of the fruit thereof and 
did eat. She took it off of the tree, not only tasted 
of it but ate it, and to increase the divine displeasure 
gave also to her husband with her, that he might eat 
as well as she, and partake of the same benefits and 
advantages she hoped to reap from hence, for no 
doubt it was of good will that she gave him, and when 
she offered it to him, it is highly probable she made 
use of the same arguments with him and pressed him 
hard to it; telling him what delicious food it was, as 
well as how useful it would be to him and her: and he 
did eat. On which an emphasis may be observed, for 
it was upon his eating, the fate of his posterity de- 
pended, for not the woman, but the man was the 
federal head, and sinning all his, posterity sinned in 
him, and died in him; through this offence judgment 



16 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

came upon all to condemnation, all became sinners 
and obnoxious to death. Rom. v, 12, 19." 

Gen. Ill, 7. And the eyes of them both were opened 
and they knew that they were naked, and they sew- 
ed fig-leaves together and made them selves aprons. 

Gen. III. 8. And they heard the voice of the Lord 
God walking in the garden in the cool of the day; 
and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the pres- 
ence of the Lord God amongst the trees of thegarden. 

"The voice, which they had heard before, and 
knew; though now perhaps, in another tone, and 
very terrible, which before was mild and gentle, 
pleasant and delightful, the voice of the son of God, 
the eternal Word, is here meant, who appeared in an 
human form, as a pledge of his future incarnation, 
and as a judge, to arraign, examine and condemn 
the parties concerned in this act of disobedience to 
God. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan para, 
phrase it, "the voice of the Word of the Lord God," 
the essential Word of God, then with him and since 
made flesh and dwelt among men, as the Saviour of 
them: Walking in the garden in the cool of the 
day; o r a t t h e w ind of the day, in the 
evening at the setting of the sun; for very of- 
ten when the sun sets, a wind rises, at least a gen- 
tle breeze; this might bring the sound of the voice, 
and of the steps of his glorious Person the sooner to the 
ears of Adam and his wife, which gave them notice 
of his near apppach, and caused them to hasten their 
flight: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from 
him, before whom every creature is manifest, be it 
where it will; they fancied that the thick trees and 
bushes in the garden would hide them, such resorts 
do wretched mortals make to screen themselves from 
the wrath of God, being ignorant of the justifying 



THE FALL OF MAN. 17 

righteousness and atoning sacrafice of the Son of 
God." 

Gen. III. 9. AndtheLoid God called unto Adam 
and said unto him, W here art thou ? 

"The Jerusalem Targum is, The Word of the 
Lord God, the second Person in the Trinity; this is 
the voice of him they heard bef ore ;and said unto him, 
Where art thou? This he said, not ignorant of the 
place they were in, nor of vsnat 1 e had done, nor of 
the circumstances he was in, or of the answer he 
would make; but it shows all the reverse, that he 
knew where he was, what he had done, and in what 
condition he was, and therefore it was vain to seek 
to hide himself; or as pitying his case, saying, alas 
for thee, in what a plight art thou, by listening to the 
tempter and disobeying thy God; thou that was the 
favorite of heaven, the chief of the creatures, the in- 
habitant of Eden, possessed of all desirable bliss and 
happiness, but now in the most wretched and for- 
lorn condition imaginable; or as upbraiding him with 
his sin and folly; that he who had been so highly 
favored by the Lord as to be made after his 
image and likeness, to have 

all the creatures at his command and 
the most delightful spot on the globe to dwell in and a 
grant to eat of what fruit he would, save one, and 
who was indulged with intercourse with God and with 
the holy angels, should act such an ungrateful part 
as to rebel againts him, break his laws and trample 
upon his legislative authority, and bid defiance to 
him; or else as the Savior, looking up his straying 
sheep, and lost creature man; or rather as 
a summons to appear before him, 
the judge of all, and answer for his con- 
duct, it was vain for him to secrete himself, he must 



18 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

and should appear; the force of which words be felt 
and therefore was oblib^ed to surrender himself, as 
appears from what follows." 

Gen. HI. 10. And he said, I heard thy voice in tKe 
garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and 
I hid myself. 

"He had heard his voice before, in the garden, 
when it did not strike him with terror but gave them 
pleasure: and 1 ivas afraid because I ivas naked. 
This was not the true reason; he was naked from his 
creation, as to his body, and it caused no shame to 
him, nor any dread to appear before God; he conceal- 
ed the true cause, which was sin, that made the 
nakedness of his body shameful and had stripped his 
soul of its native clothing, purety and holiness; there- 
fore it was, he could not appear before a pure and 
holy Being: and I hid myself; and his wife also, 
through fear of God, his wrath and displeasure, 
which he had justly incurred by his disobedience and 
sin, which had made his soul naked." 

Gen. HI. 11. And he said, Who told thee that thou 
was naked ? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I 
commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat ?.; 

"He said, ivho told thee that thou was naked ? or 
showed it thee ? by what means hast thou got know- 
ledge of it? What hast thou done that thou perceiveth 
it, so as to cause shame and fear; man was made 
naked, and continued so and must have been sensible 
of it, but it gave him no uneasness, because he was 
without shame on account of it, so that it was as if 
he was not naked; but now having sinned, he could 
not look upon his nakedness without shame;disobedi- 
ence having produced this situation, he was affraid 
to appear before God, against whom he had sinned; 
though he did not acknowledge it, only alleged his 



THE FALL OF MAN. 19 

outwaid naked nes, without confessing the inward 
nakedness of his soul, and not being humiliated for 
that as he ought to have been, and to bring him this, 
is this question following put to him: Hast thou eaten 
of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst 
not eat ? The Lord knew he had;buthe put this ques- 
tion to him, to bring him to a confession of it, as well 
as to aggiavate his crime: that it was a violation of a 
precept of his, who had been so kind and bountful to 
him, who had surrounded him with glory and honor 
and set him over the works of his hands, and had put 
all creatures under his foot, and had allowed him to 
eat of every tree of the garden, but one; there was 
but one tree restrained from him, but one command 
he gave him, this he broke. Sin is the transgression 
of the law, 1 Jno. in, 4. And in this light it is here put 
to bring Adam under conviction and to a confession 
of it; though he made it in a very lame manner, hav- 
ing covered it as long as he could; being found, he 
excuses it, as loath to bear the blame and scandal of 
it." See Job rai. 33. 

Gen. Ill, 12. And the man said, the woman whom 
thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree; 
and I did eat. 

"The man said; not being able any longer to con- 
ceal the truth he shifted off the blame as much as pos- 
sible from himself; saying, the woman whomthou gav- 
est to be with nu , his wife and companion to be an 
help-meet unto him, and share with him in the bless- 
ings of paridise, to assist in civil and domestic affairs 
and join with him in acts of religion and devotion, 
she gave me of the tree and I did eat. She first ate of 
it herself through the solicitation of the serpent; and 
then she pursuaded me to eat of it; and I did, I own 
it. By this answer Adam endeavored to cast the 



20 FOOTSTEPS OS' THS FLOCK. 

blarm. parti pon his wife, and partly upon God; 
though in what he said he told the truth; yet it car- 
ries with it the innuendo that if it had not been for 
his wife he had never eaten of it; which was a foolish 
excu^p; for he being the head and husband, should 
have taught her better and been more careful to 
have prevented her eating this fruit, and should have 
dissuaded her from it, and reproved her for it, in- 
stead of followering her example, and taking it from 
her hands; and more than this, he tacitly reflects up- 
on God, that he had given him a woman, who instead 
of being an help-meet to him, had helped to ruin him 
and if he had not given him this woman, he had nev- 
er done what he had; but at this rate a man may find 
fault with God for the greatest blessings and mercies 
of life bestowed on him, and aggravate his condem- 
nation." 

Gen. III. 13. And the Lord God said unto the woman, 
What is this that thou hast done ? And the woman 
said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 

"The Lord God said unto the ivoman. who was 
first in the transgression and drew her husband into 
it, and upon whom he seemingly cast the blame of his 
eating the forbidden fruit: what is this thou hast 
done. Dont thou know how great an offence thou 
hast committed, in breaking a commandment of mine 
and how aggravated it is, when thou hast leave to 
eat of every other tree? what could move thee to do 
this? by what means hast thou been brought into it? 
not only hast thou done this thy self, but hast drawn 
thy husband into it, to the ruin of you both. and of all 
your posterity, so heinous is the sin thou hast been 
guilty of: and the woman said, the serpent beguiled 
me, and I did eat; that is, a spirit, in the serpent, 
which she took for a good one. but found a bad one, 

2p 



r ]HE FALL OF MAN. 21 

with lying and deceitful language, imposed upon her, 
told her that the fruit was very good food and very 
useful to improve knowledge, even to such a degree 
as to make men like God, and this God knew, and 
therefore out of envy and ill-will to them forbid the 
eating of it; nor need they fear his menaces, for they 
might depend upon it, they should never die;and thus 
he caused her to err from the truth and believe a lie, 
and by giving heed to the seducing serpent, she 
was prevailed upon to eat the fruit of the tree which 
was forbidden, and which she owns; it is an ingen- 
uous confession she makes as to the matter; but yet 
like her husband, and as learning from him, she en- 
deavored to shift the blame off on the serpent." 

Qui. III. 14. And the Lord God said unto the ser- 
pent, Because thou hasi done this, thou art cursed 
above all cattle and above every beast of the field; 
upon thy beily shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat 
all the days of thy life. 

''The Lord God said unto the serpent, and to the 
devil in it: for what follows may apply both, literal- 
ly to the serpent, and mystically to Satan; both are 
punished and that very justly, the serpent in being 
the instrument Satan made use of, is cursed for his 
sake, as the earth was cursed for man's sake, and 
the punishing the instrument as well as the principal, 
the more discovers God's detestation of the act 
for which they are punished; as appears in the in- 
stances, Exod. xxi. 28; Levit. xx. 15. Nor could 
it have been agreeable to the justice of 
God, to punish the instrument, and let the principal 
go free; therefore the following sentence must be con- 
sidered as respecting them both; and it must be ob- 
served that no pains is taken to convince Satan of his 
sin, or any time spent in reasoning with him about it, he 



22 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

being- a hardened apostate spirit, and doomed to ever- 
lasting destruction, and without any hope of mercy 
and forgivness; but to show the divine resentment of 
his crime the following things are said: because thou 
hast beguiled the woman and caused her to eat of the 
forbidden fruit; thou art cursed above all cattle, above 
every beast of the field. The serpent is the most hate- 
ful of all creatures, especially the most detestable to 
man, and Satan is accursed of God, banished from 
his presence, is laid up in chains of darkness, and re- 
served for the judgment of the great day, and con- 
signed to everlasting wrath and ruin, signified by 
everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 
upon thy belly shalt thou, go and grovel in the dust, 
and in pain, or at least in difficulty, creep along on 
thy breast and belly; and this as it respects the devil 
may signify that he being cast down from the realms 
of bliss and glory, shall never be able to rise: dust 
shalt thou eat all the days of thy life; meaning not 
that particular serpent, as long as that should live, but 
all of the same kind, as long- as there were any in the 
world, even to the end of it; it is probable when the 
serpent moved in a more erect posture it lived on 
herbs and plants, as other creatures; but when it was 
obliged to go upon its belly, it licked up the dust of 
the earth, and when it eat its food it did also; some 
serpents are said to live upon dust. This, as applied 
to Satan, designs the mean and abject condition in 
which he is, and the sordid food he lives upon, no 
more on angels' food and joys of heaven, but on the 
base, mean, earthly and impure lusts of men, 
and this will be his case and condition forever." 

Gen. III. 15. And I will put enmity between thee 
and the woman, aul between thy seed and her seed; 
it shalt bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his 
heel. 



THE FALL OF MAN. 23 

"2 will put enmity between the and thee woman. 
Between whom perhaps there had been much famil- 
iarity, not only when they had the preceding discus- 
sion, but before; but now being beguiled thereby, she 
conceived an antipathy against it, which has become 
natural between the serpent and the seed of man. 
The spittle of a man and the gall of the serpent are 
poison to each other, and the antipathy is stronger 
in the female sex; and this was not only true of the 
particular serpent that deceived Eve, and the partic- 
ular woman Eve, but of every serpent and every wo- 
man in succeeding ages; and is true of Satan and the 
church of God in all ages, between whom there is an 
implacable and irreconcileable hatred and perpetual 
war: and between thy seed and her seed-, the posterity 
of Eve (mankind) and the production of the serpent; 
between whom the antipathy still continues, and 
mystically the evil angels, and also wicked 
men, called serpents, and a generation of vipers, by 
whom the seed of the woman, the church of God, has 
been persecuted ever since this affair happened. Es- 
pecially by the seed of the woman may be meant the 
Messiah; the word seed some times signifies a single 
person, Gen. iv. 25; xv. 2; xxi. 13; and particularly 
Christ, Gal. iii. 16. He may with great proprie- 
ty be so called, because he was made of a woman, 
and not begotten by man, and took upon him human 
nature, was called the (Son of God) seed of Abraham; 
as here the seed of the ivoman, and well expresses the 
truth of his incarnation, and the reality of his being 
man; and who as he has been implacably hated by 
Satan and his angels, and by wicked men, so he has 
opposed himself to all them who persecute and hate 
his people. It shall bruise thy head: the head of a 
sepent creeping upon the ground is easily crushed, of 
which it is sensible, and therefore it is careful to 



24 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

hide it, and cover it up. In the mystical sense, it, or 
he, Hu, which is one of the names of Go i, Psa. cii. 
27; Isa. xlvai. 12, an i hereof the Messiah, the emi- 
nent seed of the woman, should bruise the head of 
the oil serpent, the devil, that is, destroy him aa I all 
his princip ill ties an 1 powers, break and confound all 
his schemes, and ruin all his works, crush his empire 
strip him of authority and sovereignty, particularly his 
power o/er death, and his tyranny over the bodies 
and souls of men; all of which was done by Christ 
when he became incarnate and suffered and died. 
Heb. ii. 14, 15; Col. ii. 15; 1 Jno. iii. 8. And thou shalt 
bruise his heel; the heel of man being what the ser- 
pent can most easily get at. This as it refers to the 
devil, may relate to the persecution of the members 
of Christ oa earth, instigated by Satan; or rather by 
the heel of Christ is meant the human nature, which 
is his inferior and lo wer nature, who when he was 
in it, was exposed to the insults, temptations and per- 
secutions of Satan, and was at last brought to a pain- 
ful and accursed death; though by dying he got an 
entire victory over him and all his enemies, and ob- 
tained salvation for his people; reference seems to be 
had to Psa. xl. 7. 'In the volume of the book it is 
written of me, I delight to do thy will, mv,]Grod.' 

Gen. III. 16. Unto the woman he said, I will great- 
ly multiply thy sorrows and thy conception;in sorrow 
shalt thou bring forth thy children; and thy desire 
shall be unto thy husband;and he shall rule over thee. 

Comment is unnecessary upon this. 

Gam III. 17. And unto Adam he said, "Because 
thou hast harkenei unto the voice of thy wife, and 
eiten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying. 
Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy 



THK FALL OF MAN. 25 

sake; in sorrow sh lit thou eat of it all the days of 
thy life. 

''Unto Adam he said; last of all, being the last 
that sinnei, but not to be excused: because thou hast 
harkened unto the voice of thy wife; which was sin- 
ful, since it was opposite to the voice of God, which 
is to be harkened to and obeyed rather than 
man, and much rather than the voice of wo- 
man; to regard the persuasion of a woman and neg- 
lect the command of God, is a great aggravation of 
such neglect — see Acts iv. 19, 20. And hast eaten of 
the tree,of which I commanded thee, saying Thou shalt 
not eat of it; that is, had eaten of the fruit of the tree 
which God had so plainly pointed unto him, and con- 
cerning which he had given a clear and express 
command not to eat of it, had delivered unto him in 
the strongest manner, and had most preemptorily 
and strictly enjoined it, adding the penalty of death 
unto it so that he could not plead ignorance in him- 
self or any obscurity in the law, or pretend he did not 
understand the sense of the Legislator. The righteous 
sentence therefor^ follows : Cursed is the ground 
for thy sake; the whole earth, which was made for 
man, and all things in it; of which he had possession 
and dominion, and might have enjoyed the use of it 
with pleasure; that which was man's greatest earth- 
ly blessing is now turned into a curse by sin, which 
is a proof of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and its 
just demerit; so in a later instance a fruitful land is 
turned into a barrenness for the wickedness of them 
that dwell therein. Psa. cvii. 4. In sorrow shalt 
thou eat of it all the days of thy life; meaning, with 
much toil and trouble he shall get his living out of 
the ground as long as he lived on it." 

Cen. III. 18. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth 



26 FOOT STEPS THOPE FLOCK. 

to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. 

"Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth unto 
thee; not for his advantage bat to give him more 
trouble and cause him more fatigue and sorrow to 
root them up, and this includes all sorts of obnoxious 
weeds and plants, which adds to man's toil to pluck 
them up. And thou shalt eat the herb of the field: not 
the fruit of the garden of Eden, but the herb of the 
field, such as the beasts of the earth feed upon; to 
such a low conditon was man, the lord of the whole 
earth, brought by sin; who could not be content with 
all the fruits of Eden, save one, by eating of 
which he should be deprived of all." 

Gen. III. 19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou 
eat bread, till thou return unto the ground, for out of 
it thou wast taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust 
thou shalt return 

"In the siv eat of thy face shalt thou eat bread; 
particularly persons employed in hard labor, such as 
cultivating the earth for the production of cor'n, herbs, 
&c, and the various pursuits of life, in all of which 
there is toil, fatigue and sweating, and even such as 
depend upon the brain are not excluded; so that every 
man,let him be in what occupation he may, in life, is 
not exempt from this sentence; what little reason has 
he to be proud of himself, when he reflects from 
whence he came, and whither he must go.Eccl.xii.7.' 7 

Gen. HI. 20. And Adam called his wife's name Even 
because she was the mother of all living. 

"Whom he had before named Ishah,& woman, be- 
cause taken from him (the man), chap. ii. 23, and now 
gives her a new name, upon this state of things. The 
reason Adam gave her this name follows; because 
shewas the mother of all living; which reason is given 
by Moses, when from her had sprung a numerous 



THK FALL OF MAN. 27 

offspring, and would be continued until the end of the 
world; if given by Adam was prophetical of what she 
would be; so the Vulgate latin version renders it, be- 
. cause she would be the mother of all living, and the 
ground of this faith and persuasion of his, that he 
and his wife should not die immediately for the of- 
fence they had committed; but should live and prop- 
agate their species, and be partakers of spiritual and 
eternal life, was the hint that was just given, that 
there would be a seed springing from them, not only 
a numerous seed and offspring, but a particular and 
eminent person that should be the ruin of the < < 
and his kingdom, and the Savior of them; and so 
Eve would not only be the mother of all men living 
in succeeding generations; but particularly of one, 
descending from her; would be the mother of him 
that should bring life and immortality to light, or be 
the author of all life, natural, spiritual and eternal, and 
which is called the life to come, which is the same 
word which the Greek version renders Eve, in the 
preceding clause. It was with pleasure that Adam 
gave her this name; and it appears that her being se- 
duced by the serpent and drawing him into the trans- 
gression did not alienate his affections from her, the 
rather he must cleave unto her and not 
forsake her, since her seed was to break 
the serpent's head, and procure life and salva- 
tion for them, and by means of her there would be a 
race of living men produced, which would propagate 
his species to the end of time, for all living can only 
respect them, and not other animals." 

Gen. III. 21. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the 
Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them. 

"Besides the kind intimation of grace and favor 
to them, another token of God's good-will tow d 
them was shown, in that whereas they were naked 



28 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

and ashamed, the Lord God made them coats of skin, 
and cloathed themjoi creatures slain for sacrafice, a 
type of the woman's seed, whose heel was to be 
bruised, who was to suffer death for the sins of men; 
therefore to keep up and direct the faith of our firs>t 
parents to the slain Lamb of God from 
the foundation of the world, and all be- 
lievers in all ages, until the Messiah should come and 
die and become a sacrifice for sin; the sacrafice of 
slain beasts was appointed, and of them the Lord 
God by his almighty power made coats for the man 
and his wife, which was an instance of his goodness 
to them;not only to provide food for them as before 
but raiment which might put them in mind of their fall, 
so of their immortality by it, and the condition it had 
brought them into; being in themselves and accord- 
ing to their deserts, like unto the beasts that perish; 
as also they ware em'jLems of the robe of Christ's 
righteousness, and the garments of his salvation, to 
be wrought out by his obebience, sufferings and 
death, with which being arrayed, they should not be 
found naked, nor be condemned; but be secured from 
wrath to come." 

Gen. III. 22. And the Lord God said, Behold, the 
man has become as one of us to know good and 
evil: and now lest he put forth his hand, and takes 
also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever. 

"The Lord God said; not to ministering angels, 
but within himself, or to the other two DivinePersons: 
Behold the man has become as one of us, to know good 
and evil; this was after man was brought to a sense 
of his evil he had committed, and to repentance for it; 
and had the promised seed revealed to him as a Sav- 
ior, and as an emblem of justification and salvation 
by him, was cloathed with the garments provided by 



THE FALL OF MAN. 29 

God himself, wherefore the words are to be under- 
stood, as a declaration of his present state and condi- 
tion, in and by Christ, by whose righteousness he 
was made righteous, as he is righteous, even though 
h^ had lost his own; to whose image he was conform- 
ed, and now having the image of the Heavenly One, 
though he was deprived of that in which he was cre- 
ated, having sinned and come short of the glory of 
God; and now restored to friendship and amity with 
God, favored with His gracious presence, having 
faith, and hope of being with Him forevermore; the 
eyes of his understanding were enlightened by the 
Spirit and grace of God, to know the good things 
which God had provided for him in Christ, in the 
covenant of grace, a better covenant than that under 
which he was created, and which he had broken;and 
to know the evil of sin, its just deserts, and the atone- 
ment for it, by the death and sacrafice of the promis- 
ed seed; or else the words are a declaration of man's 
present state and condition and may be understood, 
behold the man was as one of us as on of the Persons 
in the Deity, as the Son of God, after whose image and 
likeness he was made, both as to his body, that being 
formed according to the idea of the body of Christ, 
in the divine mind, and which was not begotten, but 
made out of virgin earth and as to his soul which 
was created in righteousness and holiness, in wisdom 
and knowledge, and was like him in the goverment 
he had over all the creatures, and besides he was in 
many things a type of Christ, a figure o him 
that was to come; especially in his being a federal 
head to his prosterity, and in his office of Prophet, 
Pries tand King;and being created in knowledge, after 
the image of him that created him, and having the 
law of God inscribed on his heart, he knew what was 
good, and to be done, and what was evil and not to 



30 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

be done; but now he was in a different condition, in 
other circumstances, had lost the image of God, and 
friendship with him and his government over the 
creatures, and had ruined himself, ar d all his pios- 
tery and become unholy and unwise; for being 
tempted by Satan he had eat of the forbidden fruit, 
under an expectation of increasing his knowledge, 
lost in a great measure what he had, and now, lest 
hi pt.it forth his had and take also of the tree of life, 
as well as the tree of knowledge of good and evil; to 
show there could te no life without satisfaction for 
the sin committed, and in no other way than by 
Christ thejantitypical tree of li£e;and eat and live for- 
ever; not that it was possible, by eating of the fruit 
of the tree of life, his natural life would be continued 
forever, contrary to the sentence of death pronounced 
upon him, or elude that sentence, by it; but that 
he should flatter himself, that in eating, he should 
live forever, notwithstanding he was doomed to die; 
and very probably the devil had suggested to him, 
that he should be threatened with death, which he 
made a question of, yet by eating of the tree of life 
he might save himself from dying, wherefore to pre- 
vent him and cut off hope of securing life to 
himself, it is suggested something must be done 
which may be supported from the following; let us 
send him out of the garden." 

Gen. III. 23, Therefore the Lord God sent him forth 
from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from 
whence he was taken. 

"Gave him orders to depart immediately; sent or 
put him away, as a prince banishes a rebellious sub- 
ject;however he did not send him to hell at once, as he 
did the apostate angels, but to till the ground from 
whence he was taken, out of which he was made and 



THE FALL OF MAN. 31 

unto which mast he return. and in the meanwhile la- 
bor hard, in plowing, digging, planting and sowing, 
so that he might get a livlihood." 

Gen. III. 24. So he drove out the man, and placed at 
the east of the garden of Eden,Cherubims and a flam- 
ing sword, which turned every way, to keep the 
tree of life. 

'•So he drove out the man; being unwilling to go 
out upon the order given him, some degree of force 
was used, or power exerted in some way, to oblige him 
to depart; the word it is expressed by, is used of di- 
vorces; there was a conjugal relation between God 
and man, the covenant between them had the nature 
of a matrimonial contract; which covenant man 
broke, though he was a husband to him, by commit- 
ting idolatry, that is spiritual adultery; not giving 
credit to him, but believing the devil before him; 
wherefore he wrote him a bill of divorce and sent 
him away; drove him from his house of habitation, 
from his seat of pleasure and garden of delights, and 
from all the comforts and enjoyments of life; as an 
emblem of that separation and distance sin makes be- 
tween God and his creature, man, and the loss man 
sustained thereby. And he placed at the east of the 
garden of Eden, Cherubims. While man abode in a 
state of innocence, the place of the Devine Presence, 
or where God more gloriously manifested himself to 
him, was in the garden; but, now he having sinned 
and being driven out of it, he fixes his abode in a 
very awful manner, at the entrance of the garden, to 
keep man out of it; for so the words may be rendered 
and He inhabitateb the Cherubim or dwelt over, 
or between cherubims; before or at the east of Eden. 
And a flaming sword which turned every 
way, a drawn sword, brandished, and being 



3 2 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

quick in motion as it turned to and fro, 
looked like a flame of fire; this is not to be under- 
stood as by itself and of itself, without a hand to 
move it, nor by the cherubims, or as in the hand of 
angels, as in Ctiron. xxi. 16; or as being they 
themselves, which are made names of fire; but as in 
the hand of the LordGod,that dwelt between the cher- 
ubims; for so it may be rendered :He inhabitated the 
cherubim and that with a flaming sword;tha,t is, with 
one in his hand, as an emblem of the fiery law of God, 
now broken, and of the flaming justice of God, which 
required satisfaction; and the turning on all sides, to 
keep the way of the tree of life and showing 
that life and salvation were not to 
be had unless the law and justice of God were 
satisfied; and that was not to be expected by man's 
works, only through Christ, the way, the truth and 
the life; that his happiness was not to be looked for 
from the covenant of works, now broken, but wrath 
and vengeance; and that there must be another way 
opened, or there could be no enjoyment of the heav- 
enly paradise." 



POSTERITY IVOLYED IN THE FALL. 33 

CHAPTER. III. 

POSTERITY INVOLVED IN THE FALL. 

The eftYct of Adam's sin upon his posterity. Hav- 
ing given an account of the creation, and fall of man, 
as contained in the sacred Scriptures, and what I be- 
lieve to be the best, the very best expositions and ex- 
planations of that account extant, I shall now at- 
tempt to tra :;e the effects and extent of the fall to 
Adam and his posterity. In the sentance passed up- 
on Adam, there is no reservation. Because thou hast 
hearkened unto the voice of thy ivife, and hast eaten 
of the tree of which I commanded thee saying, Thon 
sh alt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake, 
in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 
in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou 
return to the ground; for out of it thou wast taken: for 
dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return. I pre- 
sume there is no man living, who will deny the com- 
plete and universal execution of this sentence upon 
Adam and his entire posterity down to this day. The 
sentence of pain and suffering pronounced upon Eve 
and her daughters, was inflicted upon her and is to 
this day the heritage of her daughters. The serpent 
to day bears the curse laid upon the serpent from 
which it has descended. The thorns and thistles are 
here as they were ordered in the curse upon the earth 
for man's sake, and man has to toil to live; and sick- 
ens and dies as he has done in all the past time, since 
the curse upon Adam, Eden was so effectually des- 
troyed that the place of its existence is utterly un- 
known; even the river that flowed through it cannot 
be positively identified; so effectually was it destroy- 
ed. But that we may come more directly and im- 
mediately to the truth we are seeking, viz., the ex- 



34 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

tent and effect Adam's fall has upon his posterity, I 
will recite as breefly as I can, the history given in 
God's word, beginning with Gen., 4th chapter. There 
were two sons born tu Adam and Eve. Cain and Abel. 
Gen. IV. 3 — 10. In process of time it came 
to pass that Cain brought of the fruits of the ground 
an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought 
of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. 
And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offer- 
ing; but unto Cain and his offering . he had not re- 
spect. And Cain teas very wroth, and his counte- 
nance fell and the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou 
wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou 
doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou 
doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee 
shall be his desire, and thou shalt ride over him. And 
Cain talked with his brother; and it came to pass 
when they icere in the field , that Cain rose up against 
his brother and sleic him. And the Lord said unto 
Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? and he said I know 
not; am I my brother's keeper? And the Lord said, 
What is this this thou hast done? the voice of thy 
brother's blood crieth unto me from the giound. The 
curse pronounced upon Cain, for his dreadful crime 
then follows. As my purpose is only to trace the 
effects of Adam's sin, as related in the Bible, to him 
and his posterity, I omit comments upon the above 
Scriptures. 

Gen. IV. 16. And Cain went from the presence of 
the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east 
of Eden. 

"Perhaps so named from his wanderings in that 
land, caused by his restless and wicked disposition 
and tormented conscious, seeking relief and finding 
none" 



POSTJlKl'lY INVOLVED IX THE FALL. 35 

The decendants of Cain are about as follows, 
Enoch, Irad, Mehujael, j\jethusael, Lamech and by 
Lamech's wife Adah, Jabel and Jubal, and by his 
wife Zillah, Tubal-Cain. 

"This wicked race cared nothing for the solemn 
and faithful warnings of the prophets." 

Gen. IV. 25. And Adam knew his wife again; and 
she bare a son and called his name Seth; for God, 
said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of 
Abel, whom Cain slew. 

''For God, said she, hath appointed me another 
seed. That is another son in his room; and by calling 
him a seed, may have respect unto the promised 
Seed whom she once thought Cain was, or expected 
him in his line, being the first born; but he proving a 
wicked man, having killed his brother, on whom her 
future hopes were placed, has anothor son given her, 
and substituted in his room, in whom and in whose 
family the true religion would be preserved and from 
whom the Messiah, the promised seed, would spring 
— see Gal. in. 16." 

Tne lineage of Seth: Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, 
Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech and Noah. "The 
posterity of Seth were distinguished as the sons of 
God, and the decendants of Cain as the sons of men." 

Gen. VI. 1-2. And it came to pass when the sons of 
men began to multiply upon the earth and daughters 
were born unto them, that the sons of God saw 
the daughters of men, that they were fair; 
and they took them wives of all 
which they chose." 

''This is to be understood of 
the posterity of Seth, who, from the times of Enos, 
when men began to be called by (he names of the 
Lord chap. iv. 25, and they on the mountain obtained 



36 FOOTSTEPS OF THtt FLOCK. 

a name for holiness and purity; they and their 
wives and children went by the common name of the 
sons of God; and these were adjured by Seth, and by 
succeeding patriarchs, by no means to go dawn from 
the mountain, and join the Cainites; but notwith- 
standing in the times of Jared, some did go down, it 
seems, and after that others, and at this time it be- 
came general, and being taken with the beauty of 
the daughters of Cain and his posterity, they took 
them wives of all which they chose (to which the Cain- 
ites were not averse) without the advice or consent 
of their parents and without consulting God and his 
will in the matter, and committed fornication, to 
which the Cainites were addicted; for they spent their 
time in singing and dancing, and uncleanness, where- 
by the posterity of Seth, or the sons of God, were al- 
lured to come down and join them and commit for- 
nication with them. All of which brought the terri- 
ble destruction upon the earth and every creature on 
it, as follows." 

Gen. VI. 3. And the Lord God said, My spirit shall 
not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh; 
yet his day shall be an hundred and twenty years. 

"The Lord God said-, not to Noah, for as yet he 
is not taken notice of, or any discourse addressed to 
him; but to himself: my spirit shall not always strive 
with man, for that he also is flesh; not only carnal 
and corrupt, but sadly corrupted, and wholy given up 
to, and immersed in sensual lust and carnal pleasure, 
so as not to be restrained or reformed; even the pos- 
terity of Seth, professors of religion also, as well as 
the profane world and posterity of Cain: yet his days 
thall be an hundred and twenty years; meaning not 
the term of man's life reduced to this, from the length 
of time he lived before the flood; but the space of time 

8a 



POSTERITY INVOLVED IN 'HIE FALL. 37 

God would give for repentance, before he proceeded to 
execute his vengance upon him; this is that long suf- 
fering of God, the apostle speaks of, that waited in 
t lie da v s of Noah, while the ark was piepairing. 1 
Pet. ill. 18, 19, 20." 

Gen. VI. 5. And God saw that the wickedness of 
man was great in the earth, and that every imagina- 
tion of the thoughts of his heart was only evil con- 
tinually, 

"That it spread throughout the earth wherever it 
was inhabited by men; both among the posterity of 
Cain and Seth, and who indeed were now mixed to- 
gether, and became one people; this respects actual 
transgressons, the wicked actions of men, and those 
of the grossest sort, which were multiplied, as the 
word signifies; they were both great in quantity 
and quality; were frequently committed and 
that everywhere; degeneracy was 
become univeisal; there was a flood of im- 
piety that spread over the earth, before the deluge of 
water came, and which was the cause of it; this God 
saw and determined to resent and punish: and 
that every imagination of the thoughts of 
his her at was only evil continually; 
the heart of man is evil and desperately 
wicked, Yea, wickedness itself, a fountain of iniqui- 
ty out of which abundance of evil flows:but God who 
sees it, only knows perfectly all the wickedness of it 
and the evil that is in it: the thoughts of his heart 
are evil and the imaginations of the thoughts of 
his heart are only evil continually.' 

Gen. VI. 6 And it repented the Lord that he had 
male man on the earth, and it grieved him at his 
heart. 

"It repented the Lord God that he had made man 



38 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

on the earth, because of the wickedness of man. and 
the wickedness of his heart, and the wickedness of 
his life and conversation, which was so general, and 
increased to such a degree that it was intolerable; 
wherefore God could have wished, as it were, that he 
had never made him, since he proved so bad; not that 
repentance properly speaking can fall upon God, for 
he never changes his course and dispensation of his 
providence; this is speaking after the manner of man: 
because God determined to do, and did something 
similar to men, when they repent of anything, so 
God because of man's wickedness, and to show his 
aversion to it, and displeasure at it, repented of his 
making man; that is, resolved, within himself to des- 
troy him, as the next verse explains this: and it 
grieved him at his heart; this is to be understood by 
the same figure as before; there can be no uneasiness 
in his mind, or change in it; for God is a simple Be- 
ing, uncompounded and not subject to any change 
of passion. This is said to mark his great hatred to 
sin and abhorence of it." 

Gen. VI. 7. And the Lord said I will destroy man, 
whom I have created, from the face of the earth; 
both man and beast, and the creeping thing and the 
fowls of the air, for it repeneth me that I have made 
them . 

"The Lord said; observing to what height the sins 
of man had got, and what spread it made in the earth : 
I tvill destroy man whom I have created from the 
earth. He is my creature, the work of my hand, I 
made him out of the earth, and I made him lord of it, 
I am now determined to show my detestation of his 
wickedness, and for the honor of my justice, to des- 
troy him from it." 



POSTERITY INVOLVED IN" THB FALL. 39 

Gen. VI. 8. But Noah found grace in the eyes of 
the Lord. 

"Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. This 
man and his family were the only exceptions to the 
general apostacy. God always reserves some, in the 
worst of time for himself; there is a ream in t accord* 
ing to the election of grace; it was a small one, and 
that now appeared; this was owing to the grace of 
God, and his choice upon that, and not the merit of 
the creature. The grace which Noah found and 
shared in was the favour and good-will of God; Noah 
was acceptable to him, he was well pleased with him 
in Christ; his person, services and sacrifices were ac- 
ceptable to him through the Beloved; though he was 
not in the eyes of men, for they derided him for 
his piety, and devotion, and especially for his pre- 
dictions of the flood, and making an ark, to save him 
and his from the wrath of God, and therefore had the 
honor of being the preserver of mankind and the 
father of a new world." 

Gen. VI. 12, And God looked upon the earth, and, 
behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his 
way upon the earth. 

"God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was cor* 
rupt. This is spoken, as if he had never looked up- 
on it before; whereas his eyes are always upon the 
earth, and the inhabitants of it; and upon their ways 
and works; but this denotes the special notice he took 
and the particular observation he made upcn the con- 
dition and circumstances the earth and its inhabi- 
tants were in; and this is remarked, as well as the 
particle beheld is used, to denote the certainty of this 
corruption; it must be true, that the earth was cor- 
rupted since the ommiscient God had declared it to be 
so, for he sees and knows all things; all flesh had cor- 



40 FOOTSTEPS OF THK FLOCK. 

rupted his way upon the earth; that is; all men except 
Noah; all carnal and unregenerate persons, these had 
corrupted the way of God, the true religion, with 
their idolatries; and they had corrupted their own 
way, manners, life and conversation with their un- 
cieanness and wickedness. The Arabians say, that af- 
ter Enoch was taken away, the children of Seth and 
Cain worshipped idols. and even immersed in wicked- 
ness and gave their right hand to each other and 
joined in fellowship in committing sin and vice, and 
that in the times of Noah, none were left in the holy 
mountain, but he and his wife and their sons and 
their wives; all went down and mixed with the 
daughters of Cain, and were immersed in sin, and 
worshipped their Gods;so the earth was corrupted and 
filled with lasciviousness." 

Gen. VI. 13. And God said unto Noah, the end of 
flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled wiih 
violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy 
them with the earth. 

"This is a proof that Noah found favor in his 
eyes, since he spake to him, and told him what he 
intended to do, and gave him directions to make an 
ark for the security of himself and family, when he 
should destroy the world. The end of all flesh is come 
before me; that is, it was determined to put an end to 
the lives of all men and all cattle and all fowls and 
creeping things on the earth, all which are included 
in the phrase, all flesh, even every living 
substance on the earth: for* the earth is filled 
with violence through them; that is, 
through men, for they are principally 
intended in the preceeding clause, though not only; 
it was through them, and not through other creatures, 
that the earth was filled with violence: and behold 



POSTERITY INVOLVED IN THE FALL. 41 

I ivill destroy the earth, meaning, he would destroy 
all men, together with the cattle and creeping things 
on the earth." 

Gen. VI. 14. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; 
rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it 
within and without with pitch. 

The description of the ark, the history and 
description of the destruction by the flood, not being 
necessary, in the pursuit of the purpose of this book, 
are omitted; our purpose being to trace the offects of 
Adam's sin upon his posterity. 

Gen. > II. 1. And the Lord said to Noah, Come thou 
and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I 
seen righteous before me, in this generation. 

''The Lord said t o N o ah, after 
he had built the ark and got all 
things ready, as was commanded him, and when 
it was but seven days before the flood would begin: 
Com? thou and all thy house into the ark; that is, he 
and his wife, his three sons and their wives: for thou 
have I seen righteous before me in this generation-, 
This was a great character of Noah; that he was a 
righteous person, not by his own righteousness, but 
by the righteousness of faith he was both heir and 
preacher of; this he was before God, in his sight, 
seen, known and acknowledged by him; not by works 
of the law, but by the righteousness of Christ, im- 
puted to him; for by thy deeds of the law no flesh 
can be justified in the sight of God, Rom. in. 20." 
Noah was a rare instance of this character, there 
was none beside him in that wicked generation, so 
that he was very conspicuous and remarkable, and 
it was wonderful grace to him, that he should have 
this blessing, to be 7 righteous in an age so sadly cor- 
rupt, and which was the cause of his being saved; for 



42 FOOT STEPS THOFE FLOCK. 

whosoever are justified, shall be saved, Rom. viii. 30.*' 
The residue of this chapter contains an account, of 
Noah's obedience to the divine command in every 
particular, Gen. vii. 10, 11, 12. Then follows a. re- 
petition of Noah, his family, and the creatures enter- 
ing into the ark, Gen. vii. 13, 14, 15, 16. And next a 
relation is given of the increase of the waters, and of 
the height they arrived unto, Gen. vii. 17, 18, 19, 20; 
and of the consequences of the flood, the death and 
destruction of every living creature, except those in 
the ark. 

Gen. VIII. *'This chapter gives an account of the 
going off of the waters from the earth, and of the 
entire deliverance of Noah and those with him in the 
ark Gen. viii. 13, 14. When Noah had been in the ark 
ten months and thirteen days, he uncovered it and the 
earth was dry, yet not so dry as to be fit for him to 
go out upon it for two months after." 

Gen. IX. "This chapter contains an account of 
God's blessing Noah and his sons, being just come 
out of the ark, with a renewal of the blessing of 
propagating their species, and replenishing the earth, 
the dominion over the creatures, and a freedom from 
the fear of them, (fee; the covenant made with Noah, 
his sons, and all the creatures, that he >vould drown 
the world no more, token of which should be the 
rainbow in the cloud, Gen. ix. 8-17. The names of 
the sons of Noah are given, t>y whom the earth was 
re-peopled, Gen. ix, 18, 19, and seem to be observed 
for the sake of an event after recorded. Noah hav- 
ing planted a vineyard, and drunk too much wine of 
it, lay down uncovered in his tent, which Ham seeing, 
told his two brothers of it, who in a modest manner 
covered him, Gen. ix. 20-23, all of which Noah knew 
when he awoke, and cursedCanaan the son of Ham, 



THE CALL OF ABRAHAM. 43 

and blessed Shem and Japheth, and concludes with 
the age of Noah." 

Gen. X. "This chapter gives an account of the 
other sons of Noah, by whom the world was peopled 
after the flood. " 

. Gen. XI. "In this chapter we have an account of 
the inhabitants of the earth before the confusion of 
tongues at Babel, of their speech and language, which 
which was one and the same, and of the place where 
they dwelt, and of their design to build the city and 
tower, to make them a name and keep them together, 
which they tried to execute; of the notice the Lord 
took of it, and of the method he took to stop their de- 
signs, and disperse them abroad upon the face of the 
earth." 

Gen. XII. 5=9. "Then follows a genealogy Of Shem's 
posterity down to Abram,v. 10-26; a particular account 
is given of Terah, the father of Abraham, and of his 
family, of his going forth with them from Ur of the 
Chaldees, and of his death at Haran by the way." 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE CALL OF ABRAHAM. 

Gen. XII. 1. Now the Lord had said unto Abram,Get 
thee out of thy country and from thy kindred, and 
from thy father's house, unto a land I will show thee. 

''In Ur of the Chaldee, before he came and dwelt 
in Chevran, as seems from Acts vn. 2: and the Lord 



44 FOOTS'! EPS OF THE FLOCK". 

said unto Abram; after the death of Terah, and in- 
deed it is highly probable there were two appearances 
of God to Abram. and that the same words, or very 
nearly the same, were spoken to him each time, first 
in Ur of the Chaldees, and then in Haran:(7e£ thee out 
of thy country; the land of Chaldees and the city of 
Ur, which was in it, or out of Mesopotamia, which 
when taken in a large sense were both Ur andHaran; 
this country was now become idolatrous. Though it 
was first inhabited and peopled by the posterity of 
Shem in the time of Arphaxad, yet these in process 
of time, degenerated from the true religion and fell 
into idolatry. The same, Maimonides call Zabaeans, 
in whose faith and religion they say Abram was 
brought up; they asserted that there was no other 
God, but the sun, moon and stars; and these Zab- 
aeans, as he relates, from their books and annals, say 
of Abram themselves, that he was educated in Cuthia 
and descended from the common people;and assented 
that, besides the Sun there was another Creator; to 
whom they objected, and disputes arose among them 
on this subject; now Abram, being convinced of idol- 
atry, is called out from those people, and to have no 
fellowship with them; literally, in the Hebrew text, 
go thee out of thy country; quit all society with 
such an idolatrous and superstitious people :and from 
thy kindred; as Nahor his brother, and his family, 
who are not mentioned, and seems to be left behind 
when Terah, Abram, Lot and Sarai, came out of Ur, 
of the Chaldees, though it looks as if afterwards Na- 
hor did follow them to Karan, or Padan-Aram, where 
he continued, and therefore is called his city; Gen. 
xxiv. 10; xxv. 20; xxvm. 2, 5, 10; xxix. 4, 5; so with 
great propriety Abram might be called the second 
time to leave his kindred as well his country;itis cer- 
tain, Haran, or Padan-Aram, as well as Ur of the 



THE CALL OF ABRAHAM. 45 

Chaldees, is called by himself his country and Nahor 
and his family and his kindred, Gen ;xxiv. 4: and from 
thy father's house;or family, which better agrees with 
the second call at Haran, than the first at Ur, for up- 
on the first call Terah and his family came along with 
Abram. Terah dying at Haran his family went no 
further, but continued there with Nahor; only Abram 
and Lot, upon the second call, went from thence as 
the following history makes it appear; Abram left as 
he was bid, his father's house and family, to go as 
follows: unto a land I will show you; meaning the 
land of Canaan, though not mentioned, and seems to 
be omitted for the trial of Abram's faith;hence the au- 
thor of the epistle to the Hebrews, xx. 8, observes 
that he obeyed, not knowing ivhither he went; and yet 
it is said, that he and Terah came out of Ur of the 
Chaldees; Gen xi. 31; and when he and Lot, went 
first from Haran, the same is said of them, v, 5; it is 
probable the case was this: there was no mention 
made at first, what land he was to go to, and when 
he prepared for the journey, he knew not where he 
was to go, but afterwards it was revealed to him, 
that Canaan was the land, and therefore set out in 
order to go thither; and still though he might know 
the place by name where he was to go, he might not 
know the way to it, nor what sort of country it was; 
therefore God promised to show him the way, and 
give him a view of it, how large it was, that he might 
see what sort of country it was, and how large it was 
that he would give his posterity. This call of Abram 
is an emblem of the call of men by the grace of God, 
out of the world, and from among the men of it, and 
to renounce the things of it, and not to be conformed 
unto it, ani to leave their own psople an! father's 
house and follow him whither soever he directs 
them." 



46 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

Gen. XII. 2. And I will make of thee a great nation, 
and I will bless thee, and make thy name^ieat; bi.d. 
thou shalt be a blessing. 

" And I will make of thee a great nation-, in a liter- 
al sense, as the people of the Jews were that de- 
scendel from him, and in a spiritual sense, believers 
in all ages and of all nations, that walk in the steps 
of the faith of Abram. who are his children, and are 
blessed with him: and I will bless thee; not only with 
temporal blessings, but principall with spiritual ones, 
since Abram in person had no share of the land of 
Canaan; even with the adoption of children, and 
friendship with God; with justification by the im- 
puted righteosness of Christ, which blessedness came 
upon him when uncircumcised with a large measure 
of faith and every other grace; with sanctification of 
the Spirit, and with meekness for it: and make thy 
name great ;&& it was among the Jews his descendants, 
who boast of having Abram for their father; and a- 
mong the several nations of the world; his name is 
famous in profane history; and is in high esteem 
with the Mahometans to this day; and especially his 
name is great and famous and his memory precious 
among all who have obtained like precious faith with 
him in every age and every nation: and thou shalt be 
a blessing; to all that knew him and conversed with 
him, they received spiritual light and knowledge by 
his instructions and all who read and heard of his 
faith and piety, should be encouraged by his ex- 
ample." 

Gen. XI. 3."" And I will bless them that bless thee, 
and curse him that curseth thee; and in thy seed 
shall all families of the earth be blessed. 

'•All men of all nations, and of all ages, that 
speak well of him, commend him for Lis faith and 



THE CALL OF ABRAHAM. 47 

holiness, and tread in his steps;these are blessed with 
faithful Abraham, Gal. iii. 7, 9. And curse him thai 
curseth thee; here is a change of numbers, before the 
plural, here the singular, denoting, it may be, that 
many would bless him, and but few would curse him, 
and that every individual person that did curse him 
should be cursed; this regards future as well as pres- 
ent times, in every age and of every nation, that dis- 
approves of, or rejects and reproaches Abram's 
God, his faith, his religion and his people. And in 
the shall all the families of the earth be blessed: That 
is, in his seed, as in Gen. xxii. 18, and which is inter- 
preted of Christ, Act. iii. 25; Gal. iii 8, 16; meaning 
not every individual of all the families and nations 
of the earth; but that as many as believed in Christ 
of all nations are blessed inHim;and whoever arebless- 
ed are blessed in him only, and that they are blessed 
for his sake with all spiritual blessings. Eph. i. 3, 
such as redemption, justification, remission of sins, 
sanctification. adoption and eternal life." 

Gen. XII. 4. So Abram departed as the Lord had 
spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram 
was seventy and five years old when he departed out 
of Haran. 

Gen. XII. 5. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and 
Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that 
they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten 
in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land 
of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. 

Gen. XII. 6. And Abram passed through the land 
unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. 
And the Canaanite was then in the land. 

Gen. YII. 7. And the Lord appeared unto Abram, 
and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land;and there 



48 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

build me an altar unto the Lord; who appeared unto 
him. 

And the Lord appeared unto Ah - 
ram; perhaps in human form, so it was the Son of 
God; for whenever there was any visible appearance 
of a devine Person, under the former dispensation, 
it seems to be always of the essential Word, that was 
to be incarnate; and who spake with an audible 
voice; and said. Unto thy seed will I give this land;\he 
whole of it, inhabitated by Canaanites and others; 
and it was for this end chiefly that Abram was call- 
ed out of Chaldea into Canaan, to be shown the land, 
and have the grant of it for his posterity: and there 
build he an altar uto the L rd, who appeared u to 
him : by way of gratitude and thankfulness for his 
kind and gracious appearance, and for the gift of the 
land of Canaan to his offspring, for on this altar he 
no doubt sacrificed in a way of thanksgiving, and as 
Noah did when he came out of the ark." 

Gen. XL 8. And he removed from thence unto a 
mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, 
having Bethel on the west and Haion the east: and 
there he builded an altar unto the Lord and called 
upon the name of the Lord. 

Gen. XI. 9. And Abram journeyed, going on still 
toward the south. 

Gen. XI. 10. And there was a famine in the land; 
and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; 
for the famine was grievous in the land. 

"The land of Canaan, which was a very fruitful 
country, abounding with all kind of provisions usual- 
ly, but now there was a scarcity of all; which was 
for the sins of the inhabitants and for the trial of 
Abram's faith, who was brought out of his own 
country, where was bread enough and to spare, into 



THE CALL OF ABRAHAM. 4<> 

one in which there was a famine; and this might be 
a temptation to Abram to return from whence he 
came, and to despise the country that was given him: 
and Abram went down into Egypt to s o j o v r n 
there; not to dwell there, only till the famine was 
over, and rightly is he said to go down to Egypt, 
since that lay lower than the land of Canaan; and his 
going only to sojourn, with an intention to return 
again to Canaan, which shows the strength of his 
faith in the promise. For the famine was grievous 
in theland; in the land of Canaan, and perhaps no 
where else; God ordering it so in his wise providence, 
that there should be plenty of food in one land, when 
there was scarcity in another; that countries may be 
helpful to one another." 

Gen. XII. II. And it came to pass, when he was 
come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sa- 
rai his wife, Behold, I now know that thou art a fair 
woman to look upon. 

Gen. XII. 12. Therefore it shall come to pass, when 
the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, 
This is his wife; and they will kill me, but they will 
save thte alive. 

Gen. XII. 13. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister; 
that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my 
soul shall live because of thee. 

"Which though it was not putting a direct lie in- 
to her mouth, she being his sister in some sense, as 
appears from G^n. xx. 12, yet it was done to con- 
ceal truth, and deceive the Egyptians, and 
tended to endanger his wife's chastity, as 
well as showed great timourousness in him, 
and distrust of the divine care and protection of them, 
and upon the whole it must be criminal in him, and 
shows that the best of men are liable to sin, and the 



50 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

strongest believer to fall, and. and that a saint mav 
fail in the exercise of that grace for which he is 
most eminent, as Abram was for his faith, and yet 
fell into unbelief, and through that into other sins.' 5 

Gen. XI. I 15. The princes also'of Pharaoh saw her, 
and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman 
was taken into Pharaoh's house. 

Gen. XII. 17. And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and 
his house with great plagues, because of Sarai 
Abram's wife. 

"Perhaps with the same sort of plagues, he plag- 
uedAbimelech and his servents with on a like account, 
Gen. xx. 17, 18. The Jews say they were smitten 
with ulcers; not only Pharaoh was plagued but they 
of his house also, his courtiers and servants, who were 
accessary to the bringing of Saria into his house; all 
this was, because of Saria Abram's wife; or upon the 
ivord of Sarai, as it may be literally rendered." 

Gen. XII. 18. And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, 
what is this that thou hast done unto me? Why didst 
thou net tell me she was thy wife? 

Gen. XII. 19. Why saidst thou, She is my sister? 
so I might have taken her to me to wife; now there- 
fore behold thy wife, take her and go thy way. 

Gen. XIII. "Thischaper gives an account of the re- 
turn of Abram from Egypt to the land of Canaan , 
and to the same place in it he had been before, verses 
1-4; and of a strife between the herdsmen of Abram 
and Lot, and the occasion of it, verses 5, 6, 7; which 
was composed by the prudent proposal of Abiam, 
verser 8, 9; upon which they parted; Abram contin- 
ued in Canaan, and Lot chose the plain of Jordan, 
and dwelt in Sodom, a nlace infamous for wicked- 



THE CALL OF ABRAHAM. 51 

ness, verses 10-13; after which the Lord renewed to 
Abram the grant of the land of Canaan, to him and 
1 1 is seed, verses 11-17; and then he removed to the 
plain of M unre in Hebron, and there set up the wor- 
ship of God." 

Gen. XIII. 14. And the Lord said unto Abram. after 
that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine 
eyes, and look from the place where thou art, north- 
ward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: 

Gen. XIII. 15. For all the land which thou seest, to 
thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. 

"Not only so much of it as his eye could reach, 
but all of it, as far as it went, and which way soever 
he looked; and this he gave him to sojourn in now 
where he pleased, and for his posterity to dwell in 
hereafter; he gave him the title new, and to them the 
possession of it for future times: and to thy seed for- 
ever: the meaning is, that he gave it to his posterity, 
to be enjoyed by them until the Messiah came, when 
a new world would begin; and which Abram in per- 
son shall enjoy, with all his spiritual seed, after the 
resurrection, when that part of the earth 
will be renewed, as well as the rest; and 
when particularly Christ will make his appearance 
and residence, Matt. xxn. 32. This may be typical 
of the heavenly Canaan given to Abram and all his 
spiritual seed, and which shall be enjoyed by them 
forevermore." 

Gen. XIII. 16 And I will make thy seed as the dust 
of the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of 
the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. 

"An hyperbolical expression, denoting the great 
multitude of Abram's posterity, as they were in the 
days of Solomon, and as they will be in the latter 
day; especially as this may respect all the spiritual 



52 FOOTSTEPS OF THK FLOCK. 

seed of Abram, Jews and Gentiles, as they will be 
in the spiritual reign of Christ, Hos. i. 10, 11; so if a 
man can number the dast of the earth, then shall 
thy, seed be numbered. Numb. xxni. 10." 

Gen. XIII. 17 Arise, walk through the land, in the 
length of it, and in the breadth of it;for I will give it 
unto thee. 

Gen. XIII. 18. Then Abram reunvei his tent, and 
came, and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in 
Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord. 

Gen XIV. "This chapter gives an account of a 
war that was waged, and a battle fought, between 
four kings on one side, and five on the other, and of 
the occassion and issue of it; who were the first 
kings, and this the first battle the Scriptures speak of, 
verses 1-11. Lot and his goods being taken and car- 
ried off with those of Sodom, by the conqueror, Abram 
hearing of it armed his men and pursued after them, 
and overtook and overthrew them, and rescued lot and 
his goods with others andreturned,verser 12-1 6;he was 
met by the king of Sodom, and Salem, who congratu- 
lated him on his victory, verser 17, 18, 19." 

"Abram had the land of Canaan by promise, and 
now conquest of it over the invaders of it;Melchizidek, 
sensible of his right unto it, brings forth the best 
fruits of it, and tenders them to him. In this Mel- 
chizidek was a type of Chist, who comforts and re- 
freshes his hungry and weary people with himself, 
the bread of life, and with the wine of his love, as 
well as his name and title agree with him, who is a 
righteous King,and Prince of Peace, Jer, xxai. 5:Isa. 
ix. 6: and he was the priest of the most high God; a 
priest as well as a king; and in this he was a type 
of Christ in his kingly and priestly offices, who is 
both King and Priest, Zeck. vi. 13. JMelchizidek was 

4a 



THE CALL OF ABRAHAM. 53 

a priest of the true and living (iod, who is above all 
gods, dwells in the highest heaven, and is the Most 
High over all the earth; by him he was called to this 
office, invested with it and ministered to him in it." 

Gen. XV. 1. After these things the word of the Lord 
came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, 
Abram; I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great 
reward. 

" The word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vis- 
ion; Christ the essential Word appeared unto Abram 
in a human form, visible to him, and with an artic- 
ulate voice spake unto him: saying, fear not, Abram; 
calling him by his name, to encourage him and dissi- 
pate his fears: I am thy shield; to protect him against 
all enemies, as Christ is the shield of his people 
against all their enemies, sin, Satan, and the world, 
which being held up by the hand of faith, called 
therefore the shield of faith, is a security against 
them: and thy exceeding great reward; he himself 
would be his reward, which is a great one, an exceed- 
ing great one, as Christ is to his people, in person, 
offices of grace, all being theirs, and he in all to them; 
all the blessings of grace and glory come along with 
him, and he being their portion here and hereafter, 
to all eternity; for since he is all things, all are theirs, 
all things appertaining to life and godliness, and 
eternal life itself," 



54 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

CHAPTER V. 

god's covenant with abram. 

Gen. XV. 2. And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt 
thou give me, seeing: I go childless, and the steward 
of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus. 

Gen. XV. 3. And Abram said, behold, to me thou 
hast given no seed; and, lo, one born in my house is 
mine heir. 

"He had bestowed many temporal blessings upon 
him, as well as spiritual ones; having given himself 
in covenant, and all things in it, but had not given 
him a child -.and one,lo,born in my house is mine heir; 
meaning either Eliezer or his son, whom he had made 
his heir or intended to make him, since he had no 
child." 

Gen. XV. 4. And behold the word of the Lord came 
unto him, saying, this shall not be thine heir; but he 
that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall 
be thine heir. 

"This Eliezer shall not be thine heir, this servant 
of thine, shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come 
forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine /ierr;that is, 
the one that shall inherit all that thou has, that shall 
be begotten by thee." 

Gen. XV. 5. And he brought him forth abroad, and 
said, Look now toward the heaven, and tell the stars 
if thou be able to number them. And he said unto 
him, So shall thy seed be. 

"The multitude of his sep,d is before signified by 
the dust of the earth, which cannot be numbered, 
Gen. xiu. 16; and here by the stars of the sky, in- 
numerable as they are to man. Now Abram here is 
bid to try what he could do; and he said so shall thy 



god's covenant with abram. 55 

■seed be; as innumerable as the stars, as they were, 
even his natural seed shall be, Heb XI. 12 and espec- 
ially his spiritual seed, who have the same kind of 
faith he had, and as they will be in the last day par- 
ticularly, Hos. i. 10, 11." 

Gen. XV. 6. And he believed in the Lord; and he 
counted it to him for righteousness. 

"And he believed in the Lord; the essential Word 
of the Lord, in Christ the Lord his righteousness; he 
believed in the promise of God, that he should have 
a seed, a very numerous one; he believed that the 
Messiah would spring from his seed; he believed in 
him as his Savior and Redeemer; he believed in him 
for righteousness, and he believed in his right- 
eousness as justifying him before God \and he counted 
it to him for righteousness; not the act of 
his faith, but the object of it, not the 
promise he believed, but what was promised, 
and his faith received, even Christ and his righteous- 
ness; this was imputed to him without works, and 
while he was uncircumcised, for the proof of which 
the apostle uses this passage, Rom. iv. 3, 10, 22, 23,24. 
Wherefore this is not to be understood of any act of 
his being esteemed and accounted a righteous one, 
and he pronounced and acknowledged a righteous 
person on account of it; for Abram was not justified 
before God by his own works, but by the righteous- 
ness of faith, as all that believe are, that is, by the 
righteousness of Christ revealed to faith, and receiv- 
ed by it; what is imputed is without a man, and the 
imputation of it depends upon the will of another; 
such is the righteousness of Christ without works 
imputed by God the Father. This is the first time 
we read of believing, and as early do we hear of im- 
puted righteousness." 



56 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

Gen. XV. 7. And he said unto him, I am the Lord 
that brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give 
give thee this land to inherit it. 

Gen. XV. 8. And he said, Lord God, whereby 
shall I know that I shall inherit it? 

"Not as questioning or doubting 
whether he should or no; but this he 
ask for the further confirmation of his faith in the 
promise, and for the sake of his posterity, that they 
might more easily and strongly believe that they 
should inherit the land given and promised to them; 
nor is it culpable to ask a sign of God with such a 
view; good men have done it, as Gideon and Heze- 
kiah, without being blamed for it;yea,Ahaz is blamed 
for not asking one." 

Gen. XV. 9. And he said unto him, Take me an 
heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three 
years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle 
dove, and a young pigeon. 

"This with what follows, is the sign by which 
Abram might know that he, that is his seed, should 
inherit the land of Canaan; for the whole of this is 
an emblem of the state and condition of his posteri- 
ty, until they should inherit the land of Canaan; 
therefore he is ordered to take out of his herd and 
flock this and the following creatures, which were 
used in the sacraflce before the ceremouial law was 
given, as well as under it; and the distinction of crea- 
tures for sacrifice, though not for food, was known 
as early, as appears from Gen. vin. 20. This differ- 
ence is to be observed, theLevitical law required crea- 
tures of a year old only to be offered; whereas, these 
were three years old, because they are then grown 
and in their full strength and greatest perfec- 
tion; it should be remarked that these creatures here 



GOD % S COVENANT WITH ABRAM. 57 

made mention of were not taken merely for sacrifice, 
nor is there any mention made of their being offered; 
though it is probable that they might be offered af- 
ter they had answered the principal end, which was 
to be a sign, whereby Abram might know that his 
seed sould inherit the land; but the intention of God 
was, that as by them Abram's seed might be taught 
what sort of creatures they were to offer for their 
sins, so chiefly to show that they themselves- would 
fall a sacrifice to the rage and fury of their enemies, 
in a land not theirs, and be used as these creatures 
were; and the number three may denote the three 
centuries in which they would be afflicted, and in the 
fourth come out safe and whole like the undivided 
birds, the turtle dove and pigeon to which they 
were comparable." 

Gen. XV .10. And he took unto him all these, and di- 
vided them in the midst, and laid each piece one 
against the other; but the birds divided he not. 

"It is generally thought, there was such a dis- 
tance between the pieces, that there might be a pass- 
age between; it being usual in making covenants for 
the covenantors to pass between the parts of a crea- 
ture slain, signifying, that, should they break the 
covenant made, they deserved to be cut asunder as 
that creature was — see Jer. xxxiv. 18. So a burn- 
ing lamp, or lamp of fire, an emblem of the Divine 
Being, is said (Gen. xv. 17.) to pass between those 
pieces; all this was an expression of the affliction of 
the prosterity of Abram, of their being distressed in 
the land Egypt, cut as it were in twain there, and of 
their various dispersions in other countries; and yet, 
like the bones in Ezekiel's vision, were gathered to- 
gather, and united again; and it may have respect to 
the division of the people of Irael into two kingdoms, 



58 FOOT STEPS THOFE FLOCK. 

in the times of Roboboam, and their after re-union, 
and especially in the latter day, Eze. xxxvji. Ki, 22; 
but the birds divided he not; but laid them one 
against another, as he laid the pieces; so the birds 
used in the sarifice under the law were not divided, 
Lev. i. 17; which may signify, that when the people 
of the Jews, in the latter day, are converted, and 
brought together in their own land, they will better 
answer the character of turtles and dove than they 
ever did, and will be no more divided and separated 
from each other." 

Gen XV. 11. And when the fowls came down on 
the carcases, Abram drove them away. 

"Birds of prey, as eagles, vultures, kites, crows, 
&c, are an emblem of the Egyptians and other 
enemies of Israel, who came down upon them to de- 
vour them ; Abram drove them away; this may 
respect the effectual fervent prayer of Abraham, his 
prayer of faith for them, in answer to which they 
were delivered out of the hands of the Egyptians and 
other enemies, Abram saw would distress them." 

Gen. XV. 12. And ^\ h< n 1t e sun v* as going down 
a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a horror of 
great dakness fell upon him. 

"And a deep sleep fell upon Abram; through a 
more than ordinary influence of God upon hi m 
which bound up his senses, and cast him into a 
trance, when he had the following prophecy and vis- 
ion, which more fully explained to him the emblem 
he had been conversant with;this was such a sleep as 
fell upon Adam, Gen. n. 21: and, lo, an horror of 
great darkness fell upon him; such a darkness as was 
horrible and terrible to him, so it was represented to 
his mind in vision, which signified the great afflic- 
tion after expressed by darkness, that should come 



god's covenant with abram. 59 

upon his children in Egypt and elsewhere." 

Gen. XV. 13. And he said unto Abram, Know of a 
surety, that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land 
that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they 
shall afflict them four hundred years. 

"Whilst he was in a deep sleep, this is said to 
him in a vision of prophecy: know of a surety, or, in 
knowing thou shalt or may knoiv; and be assured of 
it, being told of it by the Lord himself, who fore- 
knows all things that even come to pass; many of 
which he acquits his people of beforehand, nor 
would he hid from Abram his friend, what should 
befall his posterity; that thy seed shall be a stranger 
in a land that is not theirs; this prophecy 
could not take place at this time, since Abram had 
then no seed; but at the birth of Isaac, in whom his 
seed was called, who sojourned, or was a strainger 
in Gerar, a part of the land of Canaan, as Jacob 
also in the same land, Gen. xxvi. 3; xxxvu. 1; as 
well as he and his posterity, lived as strangers in the 
land of Ham, in Egypt, Psa. cv. 23; and neither of 
these countries were theirs; for though there 
was a grant of Canaan to Abram and his seed, it was 
not in possession; though a land of promise, it was a 
strange land, a land of their pilgrimage, and where 
all the patriarchs lived in it as such, Exod. vi. 4; 
Heb. xi. 9: and shall serve them; the inhabitants of 
the land not theirs, that is, the Canaanities and the 
Egyptians, especially the latter; these they served af- 
ter the death of Joseph, by whom their lives were 
made bitter with hard bondage: and they shall afflict 
them four hundred years ; this term of four hundred 
years is not to be joined either with the word afflict 
or serve; for their hard servitude and affliction, did 
not last long, but a few years at most; but with the 



60 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

phrase, a stranger in a land not theirs, and the rest, 
is to be included in a parenthesis, thus, and thy seed 
shall be a stranger in a land not theirs {and shall 
serve them, and they shall afflict them) four hundred 
ye-ar±;so long they shall be strangers and sojourners, 
as they were partly in the land of Canaan, and partly 
in the land of Egypt, neither of which 
was in their possession, within which space of time 
they would be in a state of subjection and servitude, 
and be greatly afflicted and oppressed, as they were, 
particularly by the Egyptians before their deliver- 
ance from them, Exod. I. 11-22; Gen. vi. 14. These 
four hundred years, as before observed, are to be reck- 
oned from the birth of Isaac, to the Israelites, going out 
of Egypt, the round numbers is only given, as is very 
usual; and though the sojourn of the Israelites is said 
to be four hundred and thirty years, Exod.xn.40; this 
takes in the sojourn of Abram in that land, who entered 
into it 25 years before the birth of Isaac, which added 
to four hundred and five the sum total is 430; for Ab- 
ram was seventy-five years old when he left Aaran 
and went to Canaan, and Isaac was born when 
he was one hundred years old, Gen. vn, 4; xxi, 5." 

Gen. XV. 14. And also that nation whom they shall 
serve will I judge; and afterward shall they come 
out with great substance. 

"The Egyptians, to whom they were servants, 
and by whom they were severely used, the Lord 
threatens to enter into judgment with and take ven- 
geance on, as he did, by his judgment upon them, by 
inflicting the ten plagues on them which made them 
willing to let Israel go: and afterwards shall they 
come out with great substance, as they did after the 
four hundred years were ended; with much gold, sil- 
ver, jewels and raiment.' 7 



god's covenant with abram. 61 

Gen. XV. 15. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in 
peace; thou shalt be burried in a good old age. 

Gen. XV. 16. But in the fourth generation they 
shall come hither again; for the iniquity of the 
Amorites in not yet full. 

"The seed of Abram were in the land of canaan 
before their descent into Egypt; and it is here predict- 
ed and promised that they shall come thither again, 
as they did in the fourth generation of those who de- 
scended thither; for Moses and Aaron were the fourth 
from Levi, or Eliezer L from Kohath, and Caleb from Ju- 
dah; or rather this was the fourth age or century from 
the birth of Isaac, men living at that time about 400 
years: for the eniquity of the Amorites is not yet full, 
and therefore would not be turned out of the land, 
and the seed of Abram could not till then inherit it." 

Gen. XV- 17. And it came to pass, that when the 
sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking 
furnace, and a burning lamp, that passed between 
those pieces. 

"The sun was going down when the deep sleep 
fell upon Abram, and now it was iset: and it was dark, 
a dark night, a time of great affliction and distress 
to Abram's posterity as it was after Joseph's death: 
behold a smoking furnace, or the likness of one; for 
all this was a vision to Abram and was an embl em of 
the great trouble and afflictions of the children of 
Israel in Egypt, called the iron furnace, Deut. iv. 20: 
and a burning lamp that passed between t hose pieces, 
or a lamp of fire; an emblem of the Shechinah, or ma- 
jesty of God, who afterward appeared in a pillar of 
lire before the Israelites after their deliveiance cut of 
Egypt and through the wilderness, when their salva- 
tion went before them as lamp thatburneth, of which 
this was a token; this burning lamp passed between 



H2 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

the pieces of the heifer, goat and ram, that Ahram 
had divided in the midst, as was usually done when 
covenants were made, Jer. xxxiv. 18. Here God 
made a covenant with Ahram. as appears from the 
following verse; and as a confirmation of it passed 
between the pieces in a lamp of fire, showing that he 
was and would be the light and salvation of this peo- 
ple, Abram's seed, and an avenger of their enemies; 
only God passed between the pieces, not Abram, this 
covenant being as others God makes with men, only 
on one side; God in covenanting with men, promises 
and gives something to them, but men give nothing 
to God, but man recives from God as was the case be- 
tween God and Abram." 

Gen. XV. 18. In the same day the Lord made a 
covenant with Abram, saying, unto thy seed have I 
given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the 
great river, the river Euphrates. 

Gen. XVI. "This chapter gives an account of 
Abram marrying his maid, at the instance of his wife 
Sarai, verses 1, 2, 3, who upon conceiving, despised 
her mistress; of which complaint is made to Abram 
who leaving his maid to his wife, to deal with as she 
pleased, dealt hardly with her, and therefore she fled 
from her, verses 4, 5, 6, when she was met by an angel, 
who advised her to return and submit herself to her 
mistress, and told her, her seed would be multiplied, 
gave a name to the child she went with, and described 
his temper and disposition, verses 7, 12; and there 
we have the name of God that spoke to her, and of 
the place where the discourse passed between them, 
verses 13, 14; and the chapter concludes with the 
birth of Ishmael and the age of Abram at his birth, 
verses 15, 16." 

Gen. XVH. I. And when Abram was ninety years 



god's covenant with abkam. 03 

old and nine, the Lord appeared otnu Abram and said 
unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me and 
be thou perfect. 

"Which was 13 years after the birth of Ishmael; 
so many years more it was before he was expressly told 
he should have a son by Sarai; or had the promise of 
If aac, which was for the trial of his faith; his age is 
here observed, that the power of God, might be 
now manifested in fulfilling his promise, and giving 
him a son by Sarai: the Lord appeared to Abram; in 
a visible form, the Logos, the son of God; the same as 
if the Lord had not appeared to him since the birth of 
Ishmael until this time; and if so, it may be thought to 
be a correction of him for hearkening to his wife, and 
marrying Hager without asking counsel of God: and 
said unto him, 1 am the Almighty God; as the word of 
God is, as appears by his creation of all things, his 
sustentation of them, his government of the church, 
his redemption of it, and preservation of his people 
safe to glory, Rev. i, 8, this epithet is very apposite 
here, when the Lord was about to give out a promise 
of a son to Abram and Sarai, so much stricken in 
years. Some render it, all sufficient, as Johovah is, 
sufficient in and of himself and for himself, and 
stands in no need of any other, or of anything from 
another, and has a sufficiency for others, both in a 
way of providence and grace: ivalk before me; not 
as though Abram had not so walked, or had discontin- 
ued to walk before God, but that he would continue 
to walk by faith in a dependence on him for every 
thing he wanted, both with respect to things tempor- 
al and spiritual; and to walk in all his command- 
ments and ordinances, that he had given or should 
give him; and all this as in his presence, and under 
his watchful eye, that sees and observes all things, 
and before whom all things are naked and open, as 



(U FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

all are to the essential Word of God, Heb. iv. 12. 13: 
and be thou perfect: upright and sincere in acts of 
faith and in duties of religion and goon to perfection; 
which, though a sinless one is not attainable in this 
life, is desirable, and is to be had in Christ, though 
not in ourselves; here it chiefly denotes an holy and 
unblamable life'and conversation, which though not 
free from sin, yet without notorious ones, which 
bring dishonor to God, and disgrace upon a man's 
character and profession, Gen. vi. 6, 9." 

Gen. XVII. 4. And I will make my covenant be- 
tween me and thee, and will multiply thee exceed- 
ingly. 

" And I iv ill make my covenant between me and 
thee; the covenant of circumcision, so 
called from the token of it, which God is said to 
make or give, Acts vn. 8: and will multiply thee ex- 
ceedingly; as he had before promised several times, 
and now renews it, lest he should think that Ishmael 
was the promised seed; for though Hagar's seed is 
promised to be multiplied, yet here Abram's seed by 
Sarai is intended, which should be e x - 
ceedingiy, or in great abundance multiplied; and es- 
pecially as this may include both his natural seed by 
her, and his spirital seed among all nations, who are 
of the same faith with him. Gen. xn. 2; xm. 16; 
xv. 5." 

Gen. XVII. 3-4. And Abram fell on his face; and God 
talked with him. saying. As for me, telold, ny 
cevenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of 
many nations. 

" As for me behold my covenant is with thee; 
who was gracious to make it. and faithful to 
keep it, and immutable in it, though Abram was but 
a man, and sinful: and thou shalt be a father of many 



god's covenant with abkam. 65 

nations; as lie was of many Arabian nations, and of 
the Turks in the line of Ishmael; and of the Midi- 
anires, and others, in the line of the sons by Keturah 
and of the Israelites in the line of Isaac, as well as of 
the Edomites in the line of Esau; and in a spiritual 
sense, the father of all that believe, in all the nations 
of the world. Eom. IV. 11, 12, 16, 17, 18." 

Gen. XVII. 5. Neither shall thy name any more be 
called Ahram; but thy name shall be Abraham; for a 
father of many nations have I made thee. 

••Which signifies an high father, which name he 
bore for many years before he was the father of any 
one: but thy name shall be Abraham, the father of a 
numerous offspring: for a father of many nations 
hare I made thee: not that he was so already in fact, 
but in the purpose of God, Rom. iv. 17. Abraham 
had not only been the father of many nations, in a 
literal sense, as before observed, but in a mystical 
sense of the whole world; that is of all that believe, 
whether Jews or Gentiles." 

Gen. XVI. 6. Aud I will make the exceeding fruit- 
ful, and I will make nations of thee; and kings shall 
come out of thee. 

"In children, for he had not only a son by Sarai, 
from whom sprung a numerous offspring, but he had 
six sons by Katurah, who became the head of large 
nations: and I will make nations out of thee; as the 
nations of Israel and Judah, of the Midianites and 
Edomites, of the Arabs, Saracens and Turks: and 
kings shall come out of thee; as the twelve princes of 
Ishmael, the kings of Edom and Midian; of the Arabs 
Saracens, and Turks, and of Israel and Judah and es- 
pecially the king Messiah, to which may be added, 
all Christian kings and princes of the same faith with 
him." 



66 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

Gen XVII. 7=14. [These verses give the covenant 
of circumcision.] 

Gen. XVII, 15. God said unto Abraham, As for Sa- 
ria thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but 
Sarah shall her name be. 

"After he had changed his name and given him 
the covenant of circumcision :as for Sarai thy wife, 
thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah her 
name shall be; her former name Sarai signifies my 
princess, or r ather princesses, being to him in the 
room of many, and better than ten thousand; yet only 
a princess to him, and in his family, being sole mis- 
tress there, but since Sarah signifies princess abso- 
lutely, because she was princess over all princess and 
people that should come of her, as well as the moth- 
er and princess of all female believers, who are called 
her daughters. 1 Pet. in. 6." 

Gen. XVII. 16. And I will bless her, and give thee 
a son also of her; yea I will bless her and she shall 
be a mother of nations; kings and people shall be of 
her. 

"With fruitfulness,who before was barren, and in 
her soul with spiritual blessing, and in both with the 
blessing of eternal life: and give thee a son also of her . 
as he had given him one by Hagar; Go d had before 
promised Abraham a son that should be his heir, but 
he had not until now told him that he should be born 
of Sarah, his wife: yea I ivill bless her; which is re- 
peated for the confirmation of it, and for the strength- 
ening of Abraham- s faith in it: and she shall be a moth- 
er ofnations;of the twelve tribes, of Israel and Judah: 
kings and people shall be ofher;abS David, Solomon and 
others, especially the King Messiah." 

Gen. XVII. 17, Then Abraham fell on his face, and 
laughed, and said in his heart, shall a child be born 



god's covenant with abkam. 67 

unto him that is an hundred years old? ard shall 
Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear ? 

" In reverence of the divine Being; amazed at 
what he told him: andlaughi d; not through distrust or 
doubt of thn promise, as Sarah did. for he staggered 
not at that through unbelief, but for joy at such good 
news: and he rejoiced; with the joy of faith; it may 
be our Lord refers to this in John vin. o(5; he saw 
Christ in the promise of Isaac, and rejoiced that he 
should spring from his seed: and he icondered\ was 
amazed at the power of God, that must be exerted in 
the fulfilment of it: and said in his feear£y within him- 
self, without expressing anything as to be heard and 
understood by any creature; but the emnischnt God 
knew what he said, and the language of it, whether 
of belief or not: shall a child be horn unto him that is 
one hundred years old? not that he was now one hun- 
dred years old; he was ninety-nine, and going into 
his hundreth year; but then he would be one hundred 
years old when this child was born unto him, Gen. 
xxi. 5. It had been no unusual thing for a child to 
be horn to a man when a hundred years old, but it 
was so in Abraham's day ; though indeed after this 
we read that Abraham himself had six sons by Ke- 
turah; his natural strength was afresh invigorated, 
and his youth was revived, and besides Abraham 
said this, not so much with respect to himself as with 
respect to Sarah, and shall Sarah that is ninety years 
old bear? Some think Abraham said this as some- 
what doubting, until he was more strongly assured 
by the Lord, but meeting with no reproof for what 
he said and did, as Sarah did." 

Gen. XVII. 18. And Abraham said unto God, 
that Ishmael might live before thee. 

"Being told that he should have a son by Sarah, 



68 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

that should be his heir, he is concerned for Ishmael, 
what would become of him, who being grown up, 
had doubtless a large share in his affections, and it is 
highly probable he began to ihink he was the prom- 
ised seed, since he had lived to such an age, and had 
no other son, and Sarah was passed bearing children, 
but now perceiving it would be otherwise, he puts up 
a petition for Ishmael, whom he did not neglect upon 
the promise of another; and to show his love to him 
and regard for his welfare: O that Ishmael might 
live before thee; he prays that his life might be pre- 
served and that it might be spent in the fear, worship 
and service of God; that he might live a holy, 
spiritual life here, acceptable and well pleasing to 
Go^i, and possess eternal life hereafter; we must take 
this prayer in as large sense as we can suppose the 
heart of a father to be drawn forth in it, for the good 
of his child, though it may greatly respect his shar- 
ing with the promised blessing and particularly as 
regards the propagation of his offspring, or his pos- 
terity at least; this was what the Lord took notice of, 
and answered him in." 

Gen. XVII. 19. And God said, Sarah thy wife shall 
bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name 
Isaac; and I will establish my covenant with him for 
an everlasting cevenant, and with his seed after him. 

"This is repeated for the conflmation of it, and 
thus expressed to remove all doubt about it, if any there 
were, that hung upon Abraham's mind; as well as to 
let him know that the promise of a son by Sarah was 
not to be suspended by his prayer for Ishmael, for 
whom he might have a greater flow of natural affec- 
tion than for his unborn son, in whom his seed should 
be called: and thou shalt call his name Isaac; which 
signifies laughter, and which was 



god's covenant with abkam, 69 

given from the laughter of Abraham at the prom- 
ise of him; and nut from the laughter of Sarah, 
which was not as yet. And I will establish my cove- 
nant with him for an everlasting covenant and with 
his seed after him; the covenant of circumcision just 
made with Abraham, the promise of the land of Can- 
aan to his posperity, and of the Messiah that should 
spring from him. untU whose coming the covenant 
would continue and theitioit called t\€ilasting." 

Gen. XVII. 20. And as for Ishmael, I have heard 
thee; Behold I have blessed him, and will make him 
fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve 
princess shall he beget, and I will make him a great 
nation. 

Gen. XVII. 21. But my covenant will I establish 
with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee, at this 
set time in the next year. 

"The circumcision; though Ishmael was circum- 
cised, and his posperity practiced (hat rite, yet it was 
not enjoined upon them of God; nor was it to them, 
or served the same purpose as to the Israelites; and 
particularly the promise of the land of Canaan, made in 
the covenant, belonged only to the posterity of Isaac 
and of those only in the line of Jacob, and especially 
of the Messiah springing from him, which circum- 
cision had respect unto: which Sarah shall bear unto 
thee, at this set time in the next year; that is, at the 
end of the nine months." 

Gen. XIX. "Another appearance of God to Abra- 
ham is here recorded. Three persons are seen by 
him in an human form, whom he kindly invited to 
stop with him, and generously entertains them, verses 
1 3; they inquire concerning Sarah, his wife, and one 
of them renews the promise of her bearing a son to 
him, which occasioned laughter in her, for which she 



70 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

was reproved verses, 9-15. Upon their departure 
the Lord thought fit, for reasons given, to make 
known to Abraham his intention to destroy Sodom 
and Gomorah, <fec" 

Gen. XXI. "This chapter relates the removal of 
Abraham to Gerar, verse 1. The king of Gerar's tak- 
ing Sarah, whom Abraham called his sister, verse 2; 
who is rebuked of God in a dream, verse 3, for which 
he makes an apology that is admitted, and he is or- 
dered to restore Abraham his wife, verses 4-7;and ac- 
cordingly early in the morning he called his servants 
and acquainted them with what had happened, and 
sent them for Abraham, and expressed his resent- 
ment at his usage of him, verse 9; which Abraham 
defended as well as he could, verses 10-13; the issue 
of all was, great kindness was shown to Abraham, 
and his wife restored to him with a reproof from the 
king, verses, 14, 15, 16; upon which Abraham prayed 
for the healing of Abimeleck and his family, in which 
he was heard and answered, verses 17, 18.". 

Gen. XXI. "This chapter gives an account of the concep- 
tion, birth, circumcision and weaning of Isaac, verses 
1-8; of the mocking of Ishmael, and of the castiDg 
out of him and his mother from Abraham's house, at 
the request of Sarah, which, though grievous to Abra- 
ham, he complied with, at the direction of God, verses 
9-13; of the provision Abraham made for their 
departure, and the supply they met with in the wil- 
derness from God, and w T here Ishmael was brought 
up and married, verses 14 21; and of a covenant be- 
tween Abraham and Abimelech, king of Gerar, verses 
22-32; and of Abraham's planting a grove and 
calling on the name of the Lord, verse 33; and 
the chapter ends with this observation,that Abraham 
sojourned in the land of the Philistines many years. ' y 



G )D'S covenant with abkam. 71 

Gen. XXII. 1. And it come to pass after these thnigs, 
that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, 
Abraham, and he^said, Behold here I am. 

"Recorded in the preceding chapter, the follow- 
ing affairs, after many promises of a son had been giv- 
en him and those fulfilled; and after many blessings 
had been bestowed upon him; and when he seemed to 
be well settled in the land of the Philistines, having 
entered in to an alliance with the king of the country; 
his family in peace, and his son Isaac, 
the son of the promise grown up and 
a hopeful youth; the first appearance of which seem- 
e d to threaten the destruction of all his comforts, 
hopes, and expectations; and it was so, that God did 
tempt Abraham; not to sin, as Satin does, for God 
tempts no man, nor can he be tempted in this sense; 
and had Abraham slain his son, it would have been 
no sin in him, it being ordered of God, who is the 
Lord of life, and the soverign disposer of it; but he 
tempted, that is tried him, to prove him, and to show 
his faith in him, his fear of him, his love to him, and 
cheerful obedience to his commands not in order to 
know these himself, for he was not ignorant of that, 
but to make them known to others, and that Abra- 
ham's faith might be strengthened yet more and 
more, as in the issue, it was. The Jewish writers say 
Abraham was tempted ten times, and this was the 
tenth and last temptation -.and said unto him, Abraham) 
calling his name, the name he had given him, to sig- 
nify that he should be the father of many nations; 
and yet was going to require him to slay his only son, 
and offer him a sacrifice to him: and he said, Behold, 
here I am, signifying that he heard his voice, and 
was ready to obey his commands, be they what 
they would." 



72 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

Gen. XXII. 2. And lie said, Take now thy son, thine 
only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into 
the Ian 1 of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt 
offering 1 upon one of the m mntains which I will tell 
thee of. 

'•Directly, immediately; not thine ox, nor thy 
ram, nor thy lamb, nor thy servant; but thy son: thine 
ouly son; for though Ishmael was his son, he was a 
son by his maid, his concubine, and not by his wife; 
Isaac was his only legitimate son, his only son by his 
lawful wife Sarah; the only son of the promise, his 
only son. in whom his seed was to be called iiuhom thou 
lovest; on whom his affections were set;being a lovely 
youth, "a dutiful son, and the child of promise;on whom 
all his hope and expectation of a numerous off -spring 
promised him was built and in whose line the Messiah 
was to spring from; even Isaac which stands last in 
original text; so that, if what had been said was not 
sufficient to describe him, he is expressly named and 
the description is gradually given, and the name of his 
son reserved to the last, that he might be by degrees 
prepared to receive the shocking order; every word is 
emphatical, and striking, and enough to pierce any 
heart, and especially when told what was to be done 
to him: and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer 
him there for a burnt offering; this was dreadful 
work to be called upon to do, and must have been ex- 
ceedingly trying to do as a man, and much more as a 
parent, and much more as a professor of the true re- 
ligion, to commit such an action; for by this order 
he was to cut the throat of his son, then rip him up, 
and cut up his quarters, and then lay every piece up- 
on the wood, and then burn all to ashes; and this he 
was to do as a religious act, with deliberation, seri- 
ousness and devotion: upon one of the mountains 
which I will tell thee of; for there were several of 



GOD b S COVENANT WITH ABRAM. 73 

them adjoining 1 to or near each other, which after- 
wards went by different names, as Mount Zion,- the 
hill Acra, Mount Calvary, and Mount Moriah, suppos- 
ed to be the mount intended. Isaac may well be 
thought in the whole of this to be a type of the Mes- 
siah, the true ani proper Son of God, his only begot- 
ten Son, the dear Sm of his love, in whom all the 
promises are yea and amen; whom God out of his 
love to men gave to be an offering, and a sacrifice for 
their sins, and vvho suffered, near Jerusalem, on 
Mount Calvary, which very probably was part of 
Mount Moriah." 

Gen .XXII. 3. And Abraham rose up early in the 
morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young 
men with him, and his son Isaac, and clave the wood 
for the burnt-offering, and rose up, and went unto 
the place of which God had told him. 

"It seems to have been in a dream or a vision of 
the night that the above orders were given; and as 
soon as the morning came, he rose, and prepared for the 
journey, and to execute the orders he had received, 
without hesitation or delay: and saddled his ass; for 
his journey, not to carry the wood and provision on, 
which probably were carried by his servants; but to 
ride upon: and took two of his young men with him, 
two of his servants of whom he had many ;and Isaac, 
his son; who was the principal person to be taken, 
since he was to be the sacrifice. Whether Abram ac- 
quainted Sarah with the affair, and she consented to 
it, cannot be said, with certainty ;it is plain Isaac knew 
not whathis father's design was;and thoughSarah and 
the whole family might know by the preparation 
made, he was going to offer a sacrifice, yet they knew 
not where; nor what it was to be: and clave the wood 
for the burnt offering; not knowing whether he should 



74 FOOT STEPS THOFE FLOCK. 

find wood sufficient on the mountain where he was 
to go; and that he might nor be uuprovided when he 
got there, takes this method, which shows his inten- 
tion to obey the divine command: and rose up and 
went unto the place which God had told him." 

Gen. XXII. 4. Then on the third dav Abram lifted 
up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 

G^n. XXII. 5. And Abram said unto his young men, 
abide you here with the ass; and I and the lad will go 
yonder and worship, and come again to you. 

"At the place from whence he had his first sight 
of Mount Moriah; he chose nut to take his two ser- 
vants with him, lest when they saw him binding his 
son, and going about to sacrifice him, they should 
lay hold upon him, and restrain him from doing it; 
and to prevent this he takes this precaution, which 
shows how fully intent he was to obey the divine 
precept:and / and the lad will go yonder and worship; 
pointing to the place w r here the signal was, but 
whether they saw it or no, is not certain; Isaac is 
here called a lad: and come again unto yon; both he 
and Isaac; this he said under a spirit of prophecy, as 
Jarchi thinks, or in the faith of Isaac's resurrection 
f/om the dead, Heb. xi. 19." 

Gen.XX II. 6. And Abraham took the wood 
of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac, 
his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; 
and they went both of them together. 

"And he took the wood of the burnt offering and 
laid it upon Isaac, his son; who was a grown man 
and able to carry it; in thus also he was a type of 
Christ, on whom the wood of his cross was laid, and 
which he bore when he went to be crucified, Jno. xix. 
17; and this wood may be a figure of our sins laid up- 
upon him, by his Father, an which he bore in his 



GOD's CVuNANT with abkam. 75 

body on the tree; an I which were like wood to fire, 
fuel for the wraih of God, which came down upon 
him for^them: andhe took the fire in his hand, and a. 
knife; a vessel in one hand, in which fire was, to 
kindle the wood wirh, and a knife in the other hand, 
to slay the sacrifice with; to carry these for such pur- 
pose must be very trying: This is the first time we 
read in the Scriptures of fire for use, or of a knife. 
And they went both of them together, from the place 
where they left the young men, to the place where 
the sacrifice was to be offered." 

Gen. XXII. 7. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his 
father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, 
my son. And he said, Behold the fire and wood; but 
where is the lamb for the burnt offering? 

"As they walked together he said, My father; 
a cutting word to Abraham, who knew what he was 
going to do with him; so contrary to the relation and 
affection of a parent; and he said, Here am I, my 
son; what hast thou to say to me; owning the rela- 
tionship he stood in unto him, a sense of which he 
had not put off, and curbs his affections, which 
must be inwardly moving toward him, and showed 
his great strength of faith to grapple with such a try- 
ing exercise: and he said, Behold the fire and the 
wood; the fire in his father's hand; and the wood 
upon his own shoulders: but where is the lamb for a 
burnt offering? He preceived by the preparation 
made, by the fire and the wood, that it was to be a 
burnt offering which they were going to offer; but 
the creature provided for the sacrifice, he put in ques- 
tion, by which it appears that he was ignorant of the 
true design of this journey, and little thought he was 
to be the sacrifice;it appears from what he said he had 
been used to sacrifices, had been trained up in them; 



76 footsteps of the flock. 

and k lew the nature of then, ani whau was feq/i'n- 
rte uulo them." 

Gen. XXII. 8. Aid Abraham, Slid, My son, God will 
provide himself a lamb for a burnt-offering: s > they 
went both of them together. 

'•In which answer Abraham may have respect to 
the Messiah, the Lamb of God, whom he had provided 
iu council and covenant before the world was; and 
who in promise and type and figure, was slain from the 
foundation of the world; and who in due time God 
would send into the world and make him an offering 
for sin, and accept him in the room and stead of his 
people; and this was a provision that could only be 
made by the Lord, and was the product of his infinite 
wisdom, and the fruit of His grace, favor and good 
will, and of which Abraham had a clear sight and 
strong persuasion, John xiii. 56; though as the 
words may be considered as a more direct answer to 
Isaac's question, which related to the sacrifice now 
about to be offered, they may be regarded as a proph- 
ecy of Abraham's, and of his faith in it, that God 
would, as in fact he did, provide a lamb, in the room of 
that he was called to offer; or may mean Isaac him- 
self, whom he was bid to take and offer and so was a 
iamb of God's providing; though he did not directly 
say so, but put him off with such an answer, suggest- 
ing it was best to leave it with God, who as he had call- 
ed them to such service, would supply them with a prop- 
er sacrifice; and in speaking in this manner he might 
give room for Isaac to suspect what was intended, 
and so by dogrees bring him to the knowledge of it: 
so they went both of them together, proceeded on their 
journey until they came to the place they 
were directed to go." 

Gen. XXII. 9. And they came to the place which 



god's covenant with abram. 77 

God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar 
there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac 
his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 

"It was a new altar; perhaps there never was an 
altar there before: and laid the wood in order; for the 
sacrifice to be put upon it: and bound Isaac his son; 
with his hand and feet behind him, as was the usual 
manner to bind sacrifices when offered; especially 
this was so ordered, that Isaac might be a type of the 
Messiah, who was bound by the Jews, John xvin.12; 
Matt, xxvii. 2, as was bound and fastened to the 
cross: and laid him on the altar upon the wood." 

Gen, XXII. 10. And Abraham stretched forth his 
hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 

"All things being ready for execution, nothing re- 
mained but to cut the throat of the sacrifice; and in 
order to do that, the instrument for it laying by him, 
he put forth his hand; it is enough to make one trem- 
ble to think of it: and took the knife to slay his son; 
with full intention to do it, which was carrying his 
obedience to the divine will to the last extremity, 
and shows he was sincere in it, and really 
designed to complete it and this was taken 
by the Lord as if it was actually done. He had the 
knife in his hand, and just ready to give the fatal 
thrust, but in the nick of time God appeared and 
prevented, it, as follows." 

Gen. XXII. 11. And the angel of the Lord called un- 
to him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: 
and he said, here am I. 

" The uncreated angel, the Son of God, who per- 
haps appeared in human form, and spoke with an 
articulate voice, as he frequently did; for that this 
was a Divine Person is clear from his swearing by him- 
self, and renewing the promise unto Abraham, verses 



78 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

16, 17, 18': and said, Abraham, Abraham: the repeat- 
ing his name denotes haste to prevent the slaughter 
of his son, which he was upon the point of doing; 
and in which Abraham was not dilatory, but ready 
to make quick dispatch, and therefore with great 
earnestness and vehemence the angel calls him by 
name, and doubles it, to raise his quick and immeli- 
ate attention, which he did: and he said, Here am I; 
ready to hearken towhat shall be said, and to obey 
what should be ordered." 

Gen. XXII. 12. And he said, Lay not thy hand upon 
the lad, neither do thou anything to him: for now I 
know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not 
withheld thy son, thine only son from me. 

"Lay not thine hand upon the lad; which he was 
just going to stretch out, with his knife in it, to slay 
him; though the Lord had bid him to take his son, 
and offer him for a burnt offering; to try his faith, 
fear, love and obedince, yet he meanx not that he 
should actually slay him, but would prevent it when 
it came to the crisis; for he approves not of, nor de- 
lights in, human sacrifices; that this might not be 
drawn into an example, it was prevented; though the 
Gentiles, under the influence of Satan, in imitation of 
this, have practiced it: neither do thou anything un- 
to him; by lacerating or wounding him in any way: 
for noiv I know that thou fearest God; with truly 
childlike fear, with such reverence of him that was 
fervent love, and strong affection joined with it; 
with a fear that includes the whole of internal relig- 
ious worship, awe of the Divine Being, submission to 
his will, faith in him and love to him, obedience 
springing from thence. And this is said, not as 
though he was ignorant before how things would end 
for he knew from all eternity, what Abraham would 



god't covenant with abram. 79 

be and what he would do, having determined to be- 
stow that grace upon him and work it in him, which 
woul 1 influence and enable him to to act the part he 
did; he knew full well beforehand what would be the 
consequence of suoh a trial of him; but this is said af- 
ter the manner of men, who only know 
things after they come to pass; 
or this miv be understood of a knowledge 
of approbation, that the Lord now knew, and approv- 
ed of the faith, fear, love and obedience of Abraham, 
which was so conspicuous in this affair— see Psal. i. 
6. I hivs tniii kn m )W%; that is, to others; God by try- 
ing Abraham's faith, made it manifest to others, to all 
the world, to all that should hear or read this account 
of things, that he was a man that feared God, loved 
him. believed in him, and obeyed him, of which this 
instance is a full and convincing proof: seeing thou 
hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me; 
but as soon as he had the order to offer him up, pre- 
pared for it, took a three day's journey, and all things 
along with him for the sacrifice; when he came to the 
the place, built an alter, laid the wood in order, 
bound his son, and laid him on it, took the knife, and 
was going to cut the throat of his son; the Lord look- 
ed down upon the act as really done; it is a plain case 
that he did not, and would not have withheld his son, 
but would have freely oflered him a sacrifice unto 
God at his command; and that he loved the Lord 
more than he hid his son, and had a greater regard to 
the commandment of God than to the life of his son, 
and preferred the one to the other. And thus God 
spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us 
all, Rom. vni. 32." 

Gen. XXII. 13= And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and 
looked, and; behold, behind him a ram caught in a 



80 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took 
the ram. and offered him up for a burnt offering in 
the stead of his son. 

"A n d A b r a h a m lifte d u v his eyes 
They were before fixed upon his son lying upon the 
alter, and intent upon that part he was going to 
thrust his knife into; but hearing a \ oice 
above him, he lifted up his eyes thitbei wai d: and 
looked, and, behold, behind him a ram caught in a 
thicket by his horns; the ram making a noise in the 
bushes behind him he turned himself and looked and 
saw it. From whence this ram came is not known. 
It was God's gift to Abraham ;there is no absurdity or 
improbability to suppose it wat, immediately created 
by the power of God, and in an extraordinary man- 
ner provided; and was a type of our Lord Jesus, who 
was foreordained of God before the foundation of 
the world, and came into the world, in an uncommon 
way, being born of a virgin,* and that in the fulness 
of time and seasonably, and in due time died for the 
sins of men. The ram had its name from strength, 
in the Hebrew language, and was emblem of a great 
personage, Dan. vm. 3; and may denote the stiength 
and dignity of Christ as a Divine Person; being 
caught in the thicket, may be an emblem of the de- 
crees of God in which he was appointed to be the 
Savior; the covenant in which he voluntarily involv- 
ed himself, and by which he was held ;or the sins of his 
people, which were laid upon him by imputation, were 
wreathed about him, and justice finding him impli- 
cated with them, required satisfaction and had it; or 
the hands of wicked man, comparable to thorns, by 
whom he was taken, or the sorrows of death and hell 
that encompassed him, and the curses of 
the righteous law which laid upon him; and per- 
haps he never more resembled the ram caught in a 



god's covenant with aeram. 81 

thicket, than when a platted crown of thorns was put 
upon his head, and he wore it. And Abraham ivent 
anct took the ram; ond offered him up for a burnt offer- 
ing, in the stead of his son; in which he was a type 
of Christ, who was made an offering for sin, and a 
sacrifice to God of a sweet-smelling savor; and it be- 
ing a burnt offering, denotes the sufferings of Christ 
and the severity of them: which were in the room 
and stead of his people, of God's Isaac, of the spirit- 
ual seed of Abraham, the children of the promise, all 
his beloved ones; who are therefore let go, justice be= 
ing satisfied with what Christ has done, and suffered, 
it being all one as if they had suffered themselves; as 
here in the type, the ram having its throat cut, its 
blood shed, its skin flayed, and the whole burnt to 
ashes, were as if Isaac himself had been thus dealt 
with." 

Gen. XXII. 14. And Abraham called the name of 
that place Jehovah -jireh: as it is said to this day, In 
the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. 

''And Abraham called the name of that place Je- 
hovah- jireh; which may berendered, either the Lord 
hath seen, or has provided; the future being put for 
the past, and so it is called, in the answer to what 
Abraham had said, verse 8: God will provide, and as 
a memorial of it, gives the place this name: or he will 
.see or provide; as he has for me, so he will for all 
those that trust in him; as he has provided a ram in 
the room of Isaac, so he has provided, and will send 
his only son, in the fulness of time, to be a sacrifice 
for the sins of his people: as it is said to this day, In 
the mount of the Lord it shall be seen; from this time 
to the times of Moses, and so on in after ages even 
until now, it has been used as a proverbial saying, 
that as God appeared to Abraham and for his son in 



82 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

the mount, just as he was going to sacrifice him, and 
delivered him, so the Lord will appear for his people 
in all ages, in a time of difficulty and distress, and 
when at the utmost extremity, who call upon him. 
This may also refer to the presence of God in this 
mount, when the temple should be built on it, 2 
Chron. in. 1, and to the appearance of Christ in it, 
who was often seen here, in his state of humiliation.' 7 

Gen. XXII. 15. And the angel of the Lord called un- 
to Abraham out of heaven the second time. 

"The angel having restrained him from slaying 
his son, and having provided another sacrifice, which 
he offered, calls to him again; having something 
more to say to him, which was to renew the covenant 
he had made with him, and confirm it by an oath.' 7 



CHAPTER VI. 

RENEWAL OF THE COVENANT. 

Gen. XXII. 16. And said, By myself have I sworn, 
saith the Lord; for because thou hast done this thing, 
and hast not withheld thy son, thy only son. 

"A great oath, and abides for ever; for because 
he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself 
his own nature, perfections, and life, Heb. vi. ] 3 
hence it appears, that the angel that called unto Ab- 
raham was a divine person, the true Jehovah: for be- 
cause thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld 
thy son, thine only son; that is 5 from the Lord, as in 
verse 12, and it is here repeated as being a most 



RENEWAL OF THE COVENANT' 83 

marvelous thing, a wonderful instance of faith in 
God and fear of turn and of love and obedihce to him; 
for with respect to the will of Abraham, as far as he 
was suffered to go, it was as much done as it is pos- 
sible for him to do, and was looked upon as if actual- 
ly done; yet this is not observed as meritorious of 
what follows; the promise of which had been made 
before, but is now repeated to show what notice God 
took of and how well pleased he was with what had 
been done; and therefore renews the promise, which 
of his own grace and good- will he had made, for the 
strengthening of Abraham's faith, and to encourage 
others to obey the Lord in whatever he commands 
them." 

Gen. XXII. 17. That in blessing I will bless thee, 
and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the 
stars of the heaven, and as the sands which are upon 
the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of 
his enemies. 

''With temporal and spiritual blessings; with the 
spirit of all his graces; with Christ and redemption, 
justification and salvation by him, and with eternal 
life, as the gift of God, through him: and in multi- 
plying I iv ill multiply thy seed as the stars of the heav ■ 
and as the sand ivhich is upon the sea shore; both his 
natural seed, descending from him in the line of 
Isaac, and his spiritual seed, both among Jews and 
Gentiles, that tred in his steps, Gen. xm. 15, 16; xv. 
5: and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 
(gate for gates); where courts of judicature were held 
and which are the security of cities, and put for them 
and which also include the whole country around 
about, so this phrase is expressive of an entire juris- 
diction and dominion over them; and was literally 
fulfilled in the times of Joshua, David and Solomam 



84 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

and spiritually in Christ, Abraham's principal seed, 
when he destroyed Satan and his principalities and 
powers; overcame the world; made an end of sin and 
abolished death; and delivered his people out of the 
hands of all their enemies; and in all Abraham's 
spiritual seed, who are made more than conquerors 
over them, through Christ who has loved them." 

Gen. XXIII. 18. And in thy seeds shall all the na- 
tions of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obey- 
ed my voice. 

"That is, in his own and principal seed, the Mes- 
siah, that should spring from him, Gal. Hi. 16, in 
whom all the elect of God, of all nations under the 
heavens, are blessed with all spiritual blessings, with 
peace, pardon, righteousness and eternal life, grace 
here, and glory hereafter: shall bless themselves in 
him; or, account themselves blessed; apply to him for 
blessings, claim their interest in them and glory in 
them and make their boast of them: because thou hast 
obeyed my voice; in taking his son and offering him 
up unto him, as much as he was permitted to do; and 
thus honoring God by his obedience to him, he of his 
grace and goodness honors him with the promise of 
being father of multitudes, both in the literal and 
spiritual sense, and with being the ancestor of the 
Messiah, in whom all the blessings of grace and 
goodness meet." 



HISTORY OF ISAAC. 85 

CHAPTER VII. 

HISTORY OF ISAAC. 

Gsn. XXV. 21. Arid Isaac intreated the Lord for his 
wife, because she was barren, and the Lord was in- 
treated of him, and Rebeckah his wife conceived. 

Gen. XXV. 22. And the children struggled together 
within her; and she said, if it be so, why am I thus ? 
And she went to enquire of the Lord. 

Gen. XXV. 23. And the Loid said unto her, two 
nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people 
shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one shall 
be stronger than the other people, and the elder shall 
serve the younger. 

"Two nations are in thy ivomb; or two persons 
from whom two nations will spring, the Edomites and 
Israelites, the one from Esau, the other from Jacob: 
and two manner of people shall be separated from thy 
bowels; different in their bodies, complexion, manner 
of life, religion, as well as place of abode: and the one 
people shall be stronger than the other people; the Ed- 
omites, the posterity of Esau, were a very potent peo- 
ple, and had a succession of dukes and kings, before 
the Israelites, the posterity of Jacob, made any figure 
in the world, and whilst they w r ere slaves in Egypt, 
Gen. xxxvi., though in after times the Israelites be- 
came the strongest: and the elder, or greater, shall 
serve the younger, or lesser-, the offspring of Esau the 
eldest should become tributary to the posterity of 
Jacob, the younger; which was verified in the times 
of David, when the Edomites were subdued by him, 
2 Sam. vni. 14, and still more in the times of Hyrca- 
nus, when the Edomites or Idumeans became one peo- 
ple with the Jews, and embraced their religion, 



85 FOOTsTM S OF THE FKXK. 

rather than be dispossessed of their country; and will 
have a futher accomplishment in the latter day, when 
thepropheces in Chad, verses 18-2], shall be fulfilled. 
Of the use which the Apostle Paul makes see Rom, 
ix. 11, 12. The different between these children is 
very distinctly marked: the first was red all over like 
an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau; 
verse 25. "His body, or rather the hair on it, was cov- 
ered with red; which was a sign, as Jarchi observes, 
that he would be a shedder of blood, fierce and cruel, 
as were he an i his posterity: all over like an hairy gar- 
ment; his body all over full of hair, was a sign of the 
roughness of his disposition, as well as of the strength 
of his body: and they called his name Esau; his par- 
ents, and those present at his birth; for he had his 
name not from the color of his hair or body; for the 
word does nor signify red, but comes from a word 
which signifies to make, he being a maker; that made 
his way out defore his brother, or an active man, as 
aferwards, or because of his hair was made or born 
more like a man than a child.' 7 

Gen. XXV- 26. And after that came his brother out, 
and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name 
was called Jacob. 

" And his hand took hold on Esau's heel; this was 
not casual, but was ordered in providence, and a 
meaning and mystery in it: and his was called Jacob; 
because he took his brother by the heel, which his 
name has the signification of." 

Gen. XXIII. 27. And the boys grew; and Esau was a 
cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a 
plain man, dwelling in tents. 

Gen. XXV. 28. And Isaac loved Esau because he 

did eat of his venison; but Rebeckah loved Jacob. 

The selling of his birthright, by Esau to Jacob, is 



HISTORY OP ISAAC. 87 

told in the 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 31 verses, following. 

Gen.X XVI. ''This chapter treats of Isaac's removal 
to Gerar, occasioned by a famine, verse 1; of the 
Lord's appearance to him there, advising him to so- 
journ in that place, and not to go down to Egypt, re- 
newing the covenant he had made with Abraham, 
concerning giving that country to him and his seed, 
verses 2-6; of what happened unto him at Gerar on 
account of his wife, verses 7-11; of Isaac's great pros- 
perity and success, which drew the envy of the Phil- 
istine upon his, verses 12-15; of his departure from 
hence to the vally of G^rar, of the cause of his re- 
moval to Beer sheba, 16-23; of the Lord's appearance 
to him there, renewing the above promises to him, 
where he built an altar, pitched his tent, and his ser- 
vants dug a well, verses 24, 25; of Abimelech's coming 
to him and making a covenant with him, 26 31; which 
place had its name from the oath then made, and 
the well there dug, 32, 33; and lastly, of the marriage 
of Esau, which was a great grief to Isaac and Kebek- 
ah, 34, 35." 

Gen.XXVIJ, "In this chapter we are told, that Isaac, 
being old and dimsighted, sent for Esau to get him 
venison, that he might eat of it, and bless him before 
he died, verses 1-4; that Rebekah hearing of this, for- 
med a schme for Jacob to get the blessing before 
him, which she communicated to Jacob, to which he 
at first objected, but afterwards complied, verses 5- 
17;audalso how that he succeeded in the attempt 
and got the blessing f ram his brother, verses 18-29; 
and this was confirmed to him by his father, even 
when his mistake was discovered, upon Esau com, 
ing, 30-33; which occasioned a most bitter cry in Esau, 
a severe reflection on his brother, and an earnest ex- 
postulation with his father for a blessing, which 
he obtained, 34-40; the consequences of this were 



88 FOOTSTEPS OF THK FLOCK. 

hatred in Esau to Jacob, and an intention to kill him, 
which Rebekah hearing- of, advised Jacob to flee to 
his brother Laban, verses 41 45; and to facilitate this, 
complains to Isaac, of Esau's wives, and suggests, 
that should Jacob marry among the same people, it 
would add to the distress of their lives; and there 
fore hints it to him, that it was necessary and proper 
he should go to her faimly for a wife, verse 46, 
whither Isaac sent him as the following chapter 
shows." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

HISTORY OF JACOB. 



Gen. XXVIII. I. And Isaac called Jacob and blessed 
him and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt 
not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. 

Gen. XXVIII. 2. Arise, go to Padan-aram, to the 
house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee 
a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy 
mother's brother. 

Gen. XXMII. 3. And God Almighty bless thee, and 
make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou may- 
est be a multitude of people. 

Gen. XXIII. 4. And give the blessing of Abraham 
to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest 
inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which 
God gave unto Abraham. 



HISTORY OF JACOB. 89 

Gen. XXIII. 10. And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba 
and went towards Haran. 

Gen. XXVIII. 11. And he lighted upon a certain 
place, and tarried there all night, because the sun 
was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and 
put them for his pillows and lay dow r n in that place 
to sleep. 

"Having travelled forty-eight miles that day: 
he took of the stones of that place a stone for a pillow 
and lay down in that place* and slept; the earth was 
his bed and a stone his pillow." 

Gen. XXVIII. 12. And he dreamed, and, behold, a 
lader set up on earth, and the top of it reached to 
heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and 
decending on it. 

"As he slept, and dreamed, not a common dream, 
but under divine direction, and influence: and behold 
a ladder set up on earth, and the top of it reached to 
heaven; denoting either the providence of God, and 
the various steps of it bringing about his own glory and 
the good of his people; which is steady, firm and sure 
and reaches to all things here on earth; and in an es- 
pecial manner is concerned about the people of God, 
their protection and safety; and is directed and gov- 
erned according to the will, counsels, and purposes of 
God in heaven; a view of which must be very encour- 
aging to Jacob in his present circumstances; or, else 
the incarnation and meditation of Christ, who in hu- 
man nature was to be in the fulness of times on earth 
there to live a while, obey, suffer, and die, and so was 
the ladder set on earth: and his divine nature was the 
top of it, which reaches heaven: here he was in that 
nature before his incarnation, and from hence he 
came; and indeed here he vvas in that when on earth; 
and as man, he ascended on high; when he had done 



90 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FL )CK 

his work, and is now higher than the heaven?; he 
may be fitly represented hereby as the mediator, who 
has reconciled things in heaven, and things on earth, 
and has as it were joined and united heaven and 
earth together; and the various rounds in this ladder, 
so considered, are Christ's enterposition as a surety 
from eternity; his incarnation in time; his being un- 
der the law, and his obedince to it; his sufferings, the 
shedding of his blood and the death of the cross; his 
resurrection from the dead, ascension to heaven, ses- 
sion at the right hand of God, and intercession there. 
Moreover, this may point out to us Christ as the way 
to his Father, of access unto him, and acceptance with 
him, by which he communicates the blessings of his 
grace to men, and by which they ascend to God wilh 
their prayers and praises to him; also as being the 
way to heaven and eternal happiness; the various 
steps to which are election in him, redemption by 
him, regeneration by his Spirit and grace, the several 
graces of his Spirit, faith, hope and love, justification 
by his righteousness, pardon by his blood, adoption 
through him, and the resurrection of the dead; and 
behold the angels of God ascending and descending on 
it;which. miy be expressive of the employment of an- 
gels in the affaiis of providence, who receive their 
commission from heaven, and execute it on earth, in 
which they are diligent, faithful and constant, and 
of the ministry of them, both to Christ personal, and 
to his church and people, even to every particular be- 
liever — see Jno, i. 51." 

Gen. XXVIII. 13. And, heboid, the Lord stood above 
it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy fath- 
er, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, 
to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. 

"And, behold, the Lord stood above it; ordering, 



HISTORS OF JACOB. 91 

directing and overruling- all things in providence, for 
the glory of his name and the good of his people; and 
may signify as the ladder may be a figure of Christ, 
that Jehovah, the father, is above him, as man and 
mediator, and makes himself known in and by him, 
and deliveres out all his blessings and promises 
through him, both temporal and spiritual, and such 
as follow: and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, 
and the God of Isaac; their covenant God and father 
in Christ, who had made promises unto them, and be- 
stowed blessings upon them; and the same was and 
would continue to be the God of Jacob, which is 
strongly intimated: the land where on thou liest, to 
thee will I give it and to thy seed; meaning not that 
small pittance of land only on which his body then 
lay, but all the land of which it was a part, even the 
whole land of Canaan, hereby entailing it on him and 
his seed, and so explaining and confirming the bless- 
ing of his father Isaac; and by which it appears, 
that all that had been done was under a divine direc- 
tion, and according to the will of God. 

Gen. XXVIII. 14. And thy seed shall be as the dust 
of the earth; and thou shalt spread abroad to the 
west, and to east, and to the north, and to the south, 
and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families 
of the earth be blessed. 

"The meaning is, that his posterity should be nu- 
merous, and break out and spread themselves like a 
flood of water, and reach to the utmost bounds of the 
land on all sides: and in thee and in thy seed shall all 
th? families of the earth be blessed; that is, in that 
eminent and principal Seed that should spring from 
him, the Messiah", in whom some of all nations should, 
as they have been, be blessed with all spiritual bless- 
ings; as redemption, peace, pardon, justification, 



92 FOOTSTEPS OK THE FLOCK. 

adoption and eternal life; the same promise had been 
made to Abraham, was renewed to Isaac, and now 
comfirmed to Jacob — see Gen. xxn. 18; xxvi. 4." 

Gen. XXVIII. 15. And, behold, I am with thee, and 
will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and 
will bring thee again into this land, for I will not leave 
thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to 
thee of. 

"And, behold, I am ivith thee; though alone, at a 
distance from his father's house, no friend 10 keep 
him company, or servent to attend him: but the pres- 
ence of God here promised is abundantly more than 
equivalent for all this: and I will keep thee in all 
places, whither thou goest; from beast of prey, from 
thieves and robbers, from Esau and all his designs 
against thee: and I to ill bring thee again unto this 
land, the land of Canaan, which was entailed on him 
and his seed for an inheritance; but as he was soon 
to be out of it, and continue in another land many 
years, as he did, which would make it look very un- 
promising that he and his seed should inherit it; this 
is said unto him: for I will not leave thee, until I have 
done that which I have spoken to thee of; made good 
all his promises, and the sense is, not that he would 
then leave him, when he had done so, but as not before 
so never after ;f or God never does. nor never will, utter- 
ly forsake his people." 

Gen. XXVIII. 16. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep 
and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I 
knew it not. 

Gen. XXVIII. 17. And he was afraid and said, How 
dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house 
of God, and this is the gate of heaven. 

Gen. XXIII. 18. And Jacob rose up early in the 



HISTORY OF JACOB. 93 

morning, and took the stone he had put for his pillows 
and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon tl e top 
of it. 

Gen. XXVIII. 1,. And he called the name of that 
place Bethel but the name of that city was called 
Luz at the first. 

Gen. XXVIII. 20. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, 
If God will be with me, and will keep me in the way 
that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment 
to put on, 

Gen. XXVIII. 21. So that I come again to my father's 
house in peace; then shalt the Lord be my God: 

Gen. XXVIII. 22. And this stone, which I have set 
for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that thou 
shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee. 

Gen. XXIX. This chapter tells of Jacob's departure 
from Bethel, the house of God, as it was to him; of 
his going on his journey, and coming to the land of 
the people of the east, verse 1; of his meeting with 
Rachel, and his kind reception by Laban, to whom he 
told all these things, and of his abode with him for the 
space of one month] of his offer to serve Laban seven 
years for Rachel, which was agreed upon and the 
manner in which Laban deceived him, — see verses 
224. Cruel and trecherous as Laban's conduct in this 
matter was, it was not worse than Jacob had practic- 
ed upon his brother Esau. Laban's cupidity and the 
purpose of his beguilement of Jacob is manifested in 
his exacting seven years service of Jacob for Rachel, 
and Jacob's great love for Rachel is shown in agree- 
ing to, and serving seven more years for her, verses 
18-28. 

Gen. XXX. When Jacob had fulfilled his fourteen 
years servitude for his wives, he demanded his re- 



94 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

lease, verses 25, 26, and a new agreement was enter- 
ed into, in which Jacob craftily got the better of La- 
ban, verses;. 78-36. The way in which Jacob took the 
advantage of Saban, verses 37-43. 

Gen. XXXI. This chapter tells of Jacob's discovery, 
of Laban and his sons discontent and dissatisfaction 
with his management, verses, 1-2 : and the Lord said 
unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and 
thy kindred; and I will be with thee, verse 3. It 
further tells of Jacob's consultation with his wives, 
and the conclusion they arrive at, and the execution 
of their purposes, verses 4 18. Laban's pursuit after 
him, overtaking him, contioveisy with him and set- 
tlement and agreement between them are told in 
verses 25-55. 

After twenty years of chastisement, God mani- 
fests his special care of Jacob. 

Gen. XXXI;. 1=3. And Jacob went on his way, and the 
angels of God met him. And when Jacob 
saw them, he said, This is God's host and he called 
the name of that place, Ma-ha-na-im; [which signi- 
fies two hosts, or armies, on going before to protect 
him from Esau and the other behind him to protect 
him from Laban.] And Jacob sent messeng- 
ers before him to Esau his brother, unto the land of 
Seir, the country of Edom. 

Gen. XXXII. 4=8. And he commanded them, saying, 
Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; thy servant 
Jacob, saith thus, I have sojourned with Saban and 
stayed there until now and I have oxen and 
asses, flocks, and men servants and women servants; 
and I have sent to tell my lord, that I might find 
grace in thy sight. And the messengers re- 
turned to Jacob saying, We came to thy brother 
Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four 



HISTORY OF JACOB. 95 

hundred men with him. Then Jacob was 
greatly afraid and depressed and he divided the peo- 
ple that was with him, and the flocks and herds, and 
the camels into two bands, And said, If 
Esau come to the one company and smite it, then the 
other company which is left shall escape. 

Gen.XXXH. 9=12. And Jacob said, O God of 
my father Abraham, and God of my father 
Isaac, the Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto 
thy country and to thy kindred, and I will deal with 
thee; I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies 
and all the truth which thou has shewed unto thy 
servant; for with thy staff, I passed over this Jordan, 
and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I 
pray thee from the hand of my brother, from the 
hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he will come and 
smite me, and the mothers with the children. And 
thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make 
thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be 
numbered for multitude. 

The preparations Jacob made for the meeting of 
Esau are given in verses 13-23. 

Gen. XXXII. 24. And Jacob was left alone; and 
there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of 
the day. 

"Not a created being; but a Divine Person 
as appears from Jacob's desiring to be blessed by 
him, and being expressly called God, verses 28-30, 
and was no doubt,. the Son of God in human form." 

Gen. XXXII. 25. And when he saw that he prevailed 
not against him, he touched the hallow of his thigh; 
and the hollow of his thigh was out of joint, as he 
wrestled with him. 

Gen.XXX II. 26. And he said let me go, for the day 



96 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, 
except thou bless me. 

Gen. XXXII. 27. And he said unto him, What is thy 
name? And he said, Jacob. 

Gen. XXXII. 28. And he said, Thy name shall be call- 
ed no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince hast 
thou power with God, and with men hast prevailed. 

"Here he lost the name of the Supplanter, and 
was given that of a prince, one who had prevailed 
with God and man; now no more to rely upon his 
craft and ingenuity to provide for himself and fami- 
ly, but to rely upon God, who had promised to care 
for him, in every time of need." 

Gen. XXX. 29. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell 
me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore 
is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he bless- 
ed him there. 

Gen. XXXHI. 30. And Jacob called the name of the 
place, Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and 
my life is preserved. 

"In verse 31, Peneul, which signifies the face of 
God, or God hath looked upon me, or hath respect to 
me. In wrestling, men are fare to face, in this posi- 
tion were Jacob and the man who wrestled with him, 
which this seems to have respect unto, as well as the 
familiarity and intimacy he was admitted to: and my 
life is preserved-, and having met and wrestled with 
God in the form of a man, and yet having been pre- 
served, he doubted not that when he should meet his 
brother, he should not be hurt." 

Gen. XXXHI. 1=4. Jacob lifted up his eyes, 
and looked, and behold, Esau came, and with 
him four hundred. [He passed by Leah and her 
children, and his handmaidens and their children,and 



HlbTORY OF JACOB. ^7 

presented himself to Esau and lowed seven times be- 
fore him, and Esau ran lo meet him, and tmbiactd 
him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they 
wept. 

Then follows the story of th^ir re- 
conciliation, and Esau's acceptance of Jacob's joui- 
nejing to Succoth, and building him a house, elect- 
ing an altar, <&c. 

Gen. XXXIV. [This chapter gives an account of the 
treatment Dinah received from Shechem and the re- 
sentment of it by Simeon and Levi, her brother,] 

Gen. XXXV. 1. And God said unto Jacob. Arise, go up 
to Bethel and dwell there; and make there an altar 
unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fledest 
from the face of Esau, thy brother. 

u And God said, unto Jacob; when he was in 
great distress, on account of the slaughter of the 
Shechemites by his sons, and not knowing what step 
to take, or course to steer, for the safety of him and 
his i&m\[y:Arise and go up to Bethel and dwell there, 
which is said to be twenty-eight miles from Shechem. 
hither he is commanded in haste to go; where it 
would be proper for him to dwell: and make thee an 
altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou 
fledest from the face of Esau thy brother ;God had giv- 
en him many precious promises; and Jacob there 
made a vow, that if God would be with him and keep 
him, and give him food and raiment and return him 
to his father's house, the pillar that was then and 
there set up should be God's house, and he should be 
his God. Jacob had now been nine or ten years in the 
land of Canaan and had all done for him he desired, 
and much more abundantly, and yet had not been at 
Bethel to make good his vow, therefore, perhaps, was 
chastised by the treatment Dinah had received, verse 



fiS FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

2. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all 
that were with him, Put away the strange gods that 
are among you, and be clean, and change your gar- 
ments: To hit wives and children and all thai were with 
him; his servants and such as remained with him of 
the captives of Shechem. Put away the strnage gods 
that are among you, and be clean; their hands were 
full of the blood of the Shechemites, and needed 
washing before they went to Bethel, the house of 
God; and these outward purifications were signifi- 
cant of inward cleansing by the grace of God, and 
of the outward reformation of life and manners — see 
Is. i, 15, 16; and change your garment s;'m which they 
were not fit to appear before God. Changing and 
washing of the garments were also emblems of the 
renewing of the mind and change of soul, and of the 
change of heart and life, as well as pleasure, delight 
and cheefulness, in appearing before God." 

Gen. XXXV. 3. And let us arise and go up to Bethel; 
and I will make there an altar unto God, who an- 
swered me in the day of my distress, and was with 
me in the way which I went. 

Gen. XXXV. 4, And they gave Jacob all their 
strange gods which were in their hands, and all their 
ear-rin^s, which were in their ears: and he burried 
them under the oak, which was in Shechem, 

Gen. XXXV. 5. And they journeyedrand the terror of 
God was upon the cities that were round about them, 
and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. 

Gen. XXXV. 6 And Jacob came to Luz, which is 
in the land of Canaan, that is Bethel, he and all the 
people that were with him. 

Gen, XXXV. 7. And he built an altar,and called the 
place El-beth-el; because there God had appeared 



HISTORS OF JACOB. 9!) 

to him, when he fled from the face of his brother. 

Gen. XXXV. 8. But Deborah, Rebekah's nurse died, 
and she was burried beneath Bethel under an oak. 

Gen. 35. 9. And God appeared unto Jacob again, 
when he come out of Padam-aram, and blessed him. 

Gen. XXXV. 10. And Gcd said unto him, Thy name 
is Jacob; thy name shall not be called any more 
Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called 
his name Israel. 

"Thy name shall not he called any more Jacob, but 
Israel shall be thy name; Not J acob only, but Israel 
also, and not only he himself, but his posterity also: 
and called his name Israel, confirmed the name 
he he had given him, Gen. xxxn. 28; 
Thus signifying he had prevailed over his 
brother Esau and escaped his hands, and 
should prevail over all that rose up against him, and 
opposed him, even as he had power with God, and 
prevailed," 

Gen. XXXII. 11. And God said unto him, I am God 
Almighty; be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a 
company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall 
come out of thy loins. 

"As, David, Solomon, and many others, who 
were kings of Israel, and Judah, and especially the 
King Messiah." 

Gen. XXXII. 12. A.nd the land which I gave Abra- 
ham and Isaac, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed 
after thee, will I give the land. 

"Meaning the land of Canaan, which he had by 
promise given to his grand-father and his father, so 
he would give it to him; thus renewing the grant of 
it for his comfort, and the encouragement of his 
faith, when he had been in danger of being destroy - 

LofC. 



100 FOOTSTEPS OB* THE FLOCK, 

ed by the inhabitants of it, and was obliged to move 
from one part of it to another: and to thy seed after 
thee, will 1 give the land] not only make a grant of it 
to them, but put them in possession of it, as in pro- 
cess of time he did." 

Gen. XXXII. 13. And God went up from him, in the 
place where he talked with him. 

Geu. XXXII. 14. And Jacob set up a pillar in the 
place where he talked with him, even a pillar of 
stone; and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he 
poured oil thereon. 

Gen. XXXII. 15. And Jacob called the name of the 
place where God spake with him, Bethel. 

"Confirmed the name he had before give it, when 
he went to Mesopotamia, and now on his return re- 
news and establishes it and so made it God's house, 
as he had promised he would, Gen. xxviii. 22. The 
Journey from Bethel, the birth of Benjamin, the 
death of Rachel, &c, are told in verses 16-26; and 
Jacob's arrival at his father's house, verse 27; Isaac's 
age, death and burial, verses' 28, 29." 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH. 

Gen. XXXVII. "In this chapter begins the history of 
Joseph, with whom the remaining part of the book is 
chiefly concerned; and here are related the hatred of 
his bretheren to him because his father loved him, 

7a 



THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH 101 

and which was increased by the dream he dreamed, 
and told them of, verses 1-11; a visit to his brethren, 
in the field, whom he found after a long search of 
them, verses 12-17; their conspiracy on sight of him 
to slay him, but by the advice of Reuben, it was 
agreed to cast him into a pit, which they did, verses 
18-24, and after that, at the motion of Judah, sold 
him to the Ishmaelites, who were going to Egypt, 
verses 25-28; this being done, Reuben being absent 
and not finding Joseph in the pit, was in great dis- 
tress, verses 29-30; their contrivance to deceive their 
father, and make him believe that Joseph was des- 
troyed by wild beast, which on sight of the coat he 
credited, and became inconsolable, verses 31 35; 
and concludes with the sale of Joseph in Egypt, to 
Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, verse 36." 

Gen. XXXIX. ' k In the this chapter the history re- 
turns to Joseph again, who being brought down to 
Egypt was sold to Potiphar, with whom he found 
favor, and who set him over his house, the Lord pros- 
pering every thing in his hands, verses 1-6, and be- 
ing a young man of comely aspect, his mistress lusted 
after him, and tempted him to lie with her, from time 
to time, but he as constantly refused it, as being both 
ingratitude to his mistress, and a sin against God, 
verses 7-10. At a certain time, they being alone in the 
house, she renewed her solicitations, and laid hold of 
his garment, which he left in her hands, and fled, 
verses 11-12; upon which she called her servants with- 
out and accused Joseph of ill designs upon her, and 
reported the same to her husband, when he came 
home, verses 13-19; upon which his master put him in 
prison, but he found favor with the keeper of it who 
committed the prisoners and all things relat- 
ive to them into his hands, verses 20-23." 



102 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

Gen. XL. "The history of this chapter is, the im- 
prisonment of two of Phaiaoh's officers, the chief 
butler and chief baker, who by the captain of the 
guard were made the charge of Joseph, verse 1-4; 
they both dreamed in prison, which made them sad; 
Joseph taking notice of their sadness, asked the rea- 
son of it, and encouraged them to tell him their 
dreams, verses 5-8. The chief told his dream of the 
vine and their branches, which Joseph interpreted of 
his restoration to his office in three days, and desir- 
ed him to remember him unto Pharaoh when he stood 
before him, telling him his case, verses 9-15; then the 
chief baker told his dream of the three white baskets 
of food on his head, which the birds ate, verse 16-19; 
and this Joseph interperted of his being hanged within 
three days, verses 16-19, and the events answered to 
the interpolations, but Joseph was forgotten by the 
chief butler, verses 20-23. " 

Gen. XLI. "In this chapter are related Pharaoh's 
dreams, which his magicians could not interpret, 
verses 1-9, upon which the chief butler now remem- 
bering Joseph, recommended him to Pharaoh as an 
interpreter, having had an happy experience of him as 
such himself, verses 10-15; Joseph was sent for out of 
the prison; and Pharaoh having related his dreams, 
he interpted them seven years of plenty and seven 
years of famine, that should be in the land of Egypt, 
verses 14-32; and having done, he gave his 
advice to provide in the years of plen- 
ty against the seven years of famine 
and proposed a scheme for doing it, which was ap- 
proved by Pharaoh and his ministers, verse 33-37. 
Joseph himself was pitched upon as the most proper 
person to execute it, and was appointed chief over 
the kingdom, next to Pharaoh, who gives him a new 



THK HISTORY OF JOSEPH. 103 

name and a wife upon this occasion, verses 38-45. 
Accordingly in the years of plenty he took a tour 
throughout the whole land and gathered and laid up 
food in vast quantities in every city, verses 46-49. An 
account is given of two sons born to Joseph; and of 
their names, verses 50-52, and the seven years of fam- 
ine, beginning to come on at the end of the seven 
years of plenty, which brought great distress on the 
land of Egypt, and the countries round about, who 
all came to Joseph to buy corn, verses 53 57." 

Gen. XUI. "This chapter ; relates that Jacob 
heard there was corn in Egypt, sent all his sons, but 
Benjamin, thither to buy corn, verses 1-4, and com- 
ing before Joseph they bowed to him, he knowing 
them, though they knew him not, spoke roughly to 
them, and charged them with being spies, verses 6-9; 
they in their defense urged that they were sons of 
one man in Canaan, with whom their youngest broth- 
er was left, on which Joseph ordered them to send for 
him, to prove them true men, verses 10-16; and put 
them all in prison for three days, and then released 
them, and sent them away to fetch their brother, 
verses 17-20; this brought to their minds their treat- 
ment of Joseph, and they confessed their guilt to 
each other, which Joseph heard and which greatly 
affected him; they supposed he understood them not; 
before he dismissed them he bound Simeon before 
their eyes, whom he retained, till they returned, 
verses 21-24; then he ordered his servants to fill their 
sacks with corn, and put each man's money in his 
sack, which one of them on the road found, opening 
his sack for provisions, filled them all with surprise 
and fear, verses 25-28. Upon their reiurn to Jacob, 
they related all that had befallen them, and particu- 
larly that the governor insisted on having Benjamin 



104: FOOTSTEPS OFTHK FLOCK. 

brought to them, verses 29-34; their sacks being open- 
ed, all their money was found in them, which great- 
ly distressed them, and Jacob also, who was very un- 
willing to let Benjamin go, though Reuben offered 
his two sons as a pledge for him, and himself to be a 
surety, verses 35-38." 

Gen. XLIII. "Informs us that the famine contin- 
ued in ihe land of Canaan, and the corn that Jocob's 
sons and family had from Egypt being consumed, 
Jacob prepared his sons to go down for more, which 
they refused to do, unless Benjaman was sent with 
them, for whose safety Judah offered to become a 
surety, verses 1-10 Jacob with reluctance was pre- 
vailed upon to let him go, and dismissed them, with 
a present to the governor of Egypt, and with double 
money to buy corn with, and with his blessing upon 
them, verses 11-14. Upcn which they set out for 
Egypt. When they cams into the presence of Joseph, 
he seeing Benjamin with them, ordered his steward 
to take them to his house, and get dinner ready, it 
being his pleasure that they should dine with him 
that day, verses 15-17. This threw them into a fright, 
supposing that they were going to be called to an ac- 
count for the money they found in their sacks; where* 
upon they related to the steward, every particular of 
the whole of that affair, who bid them not to be un- 
easy, for he had had their money; and as a proof that 
things would go well with thnm, brought Simeon out 
to them and treated them very kindly and genteelly, 
verses 18 24. Having got their present ready against 
Joseph came home, they delivered it to him with great 
veneration and submission; who asked of the welfare 
of their father, and whether that was their younger 
brother they spoke of, the sight of whom so affected 
him, that he was obliged to haste to his chamber to 



THE HISTORY OP JOSEPH. 105 

w^ep, verses 25-30. Having washed his face and 
composed himself, he returned and ordered dinner to 
be brought, which were set on different tables, one 
for himself and the Egyptians and the other for his 
brethren, whom he placed according to their age, to 
their surprise; and sent messes from his table to each, 
aud Benjamin five times more than the rest, and they 
were so liberally entertained that they became cheer- 
ful, verses 31-34." 

Gen. XL1V. "This chapter relates the policy of 
Joseph, in making an experiment of his brother's re- 
gard and affection for Benjamin; he ordered his stew- 
ard to put every man's money in his sack, his silver 
cup in Benjamin's, and when they were got out of 
the city, to follow them, and charge them with theft, 
as he did; and having searched their sacks as they 
desired he should, found the cup with Benjamin, 
which threw them into the utmost distress; and ob- 
liged them to return to Joseph, verses 1-14, who 
charged them with ill behaviour towards him; they 
acknowledged it, and proposed to be his servants; 
but he ordered them to depart to their father, retain- 
ing Benjamin in servitude, verses 15-17. Upon which 
Judah addressed him in a very polite and affectionate 
manner, and related the whole story, both between 
Joseph and them, concerning Benjamin, the first 
time they were in Egypt, and between their father 
and them upon the same subject, when he directed 
them to go a second time thither to buy corn, and 
how he became a surety to his father for him, and 
therefore proposed to be his bondsman now, not 
being able to see his father's face without Benjamin, 
verses 18-24." 

Gen. XLV. "In this chapter we have an account 
of Joseph's making himsell known to his brethren, 



10G FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

which was done when they were al me, verses 1-4, 
when he encouraged them not to distress themselves 
on account of selling him into Egypt, for God in his 
providence had sent him there for their good, verses 
5-8, and he ordered them to go forthwith to Canaan, 
and acquaint his father with all the honor and glory 
they saw him in, and to desire him to conn thither to 
him, where he should be provided for during the five 
years of famine yet to come, in the best part of the 
land of Egypt, verses 9-] 3, upon which he expressed 
the strongest affection to Benjamin, and to all his 
brethren, verses 14-15. The fame of this was spread 
in the house of Pharaoh, which gave the king great 
pleasure, who immediately expressed his desire that 
his father might come and settle in Egypt, and order- 
ed provisions to be sent to him, verses 16-20, and car- 
riages to bring him down, and all that belonged to 
him; and Joseph accordingly delivered to his breth- 
ren wagons and provisions for the way, and gave 
gifts to them and sent gifts to his father, and dismiss- 
ed his brethren with an exhortation not to fall out by 
the way, verses 21-24, and they came to Canaan, and 
acquainted their father with all these things, who at 
first could not believe them; but when he saw the 
wagons, his spirit revived, and he determined to go 
to see his son, verses 25-28. " 

Gen. LVI. ''Here we are told that Jacob with all 
his family and substance took a journey to Egypt, to 
see his son Joseph, in which he was encouraged to 
proceed, by a vision from God, verses 1-7, and we are 
given an account of all his sons, sons and daughters 
that went with him, verses 8-27. When he came 
near to Egypt, he sent Judah before him to Joseph, 
to acquaint him of his coming, who met him at Gosh- 
en, where there was a most affectionate interview be- 



THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH. 107 

tween them, verses 28-30, and when he gave direc- 
tions, what answers to give to Pharaoh's questions, 
when they should appear before him, to whom he 
proposed to go and inform him of their being in 
Egypt, verses 31-34." 

Gen. XLVII. ' k This gives an account of the presenta- 
tion of five of Joseph's brethren and his father to 
Pharaoh, and of what passed between them, verses 
1-10; of Joseph's settlement of them, according to 
the directions of Pharaoh, in the land of Goshen, and 
of his provision he made for them there, verses 11-12* 
of his getting into his hands, for Pharaoh, the many 
cattle and lands of the Egyptians, except the lands 
belonging to the priests, for corn he had supplied 
them with, verses 15-22; of his giving them seed to 
sow with on conditions of Pharaoh's having a fifth 
part of the proceeds, verses 23-26; of the increase of 
Jacob's substance in Egypt, and that of his children; 
of the time of his being there, and his approaching 
death, when he called Joseph to him, and obliged 
him by an oath to bury him in the burying place of 
his fathers, verses 27-31," 

Gen. XLV1II. "Joseph hearing his father was sick, 
paid him a visit, verses 1, 2; at which time Jacob 
gave him an account of the Lord's appearing to him 
at Luz, and of the promise he made unto him, verses 
3, 4; then he adopted his two sons, Ephraim and Ma- 
nassah, and blessed them, and Joseph also, verses 5- 
18; and whereas he crossed his hands when he bless- 
ed the sons of Joseph, putting his right hand upon 
the youngest, and his left hand on the eldest, which 
displeased Joseph, he gave him the reason for so do- 
ing, verses 17-20; and then assured him that God 
would bring him and the rest of his posterity into the 
land of Canaan, where he assigned them a particular 



108 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

portion above his brethren, verses 21, 22/ 

Gen. XLIX. "This chapter contains a prophecy 
of future things, relating to the twelve 
sons of Jacob, and to the twelve tribes, as 
descending from them, and which he delivered to his 
sons on his death-bed, having called them together 
for that purpose, verses 1, 2. He begins with Reu- 
ben, his first born, whose incest he takes notice of, 
on which account he should not excel, verses 3, 4; 
next Simeon and Levi have a curse denounced on 
them for their cruelty at Shechem, verses 5, 6; but 
Judah is praised, and good things are prophecied of 
him; perticularly that Shiloh or, the Messiah, should 
spring from him, the time of whose coming is point- 
ed at, verses 7-12; the predictions concerning Zebulun, 
Issachar and Dan follow, at the close of which Jacob 
expresses his longing expectation of God's salvation, 
verses 13-18; and foretelling what should befall Gad 
and Asher and Naphtali, verses 19-21; a large ac- 
count is given of Joseph, his trials, and his blessings, 
verses 22 26; and Benjamin the youngest son taken 
notice of the last of all; all the tribes being blessed 
in their order according to the nature of their bless- 
ing, verses 27, 28, and the chapter is closed with a 
charge of Jacob's to his sons to bury him in Canaan, 
which having delivered, he died, verses 29, 33." 

Gen. L."This contains a short account of what hap- 
pened from the death of Jacob to the death of Joseph, 
and is chiefly concerned with the funeral of Jacob; 
it gives an account of the embalming of Jacob's body 
and the mourning of the Egyptians for him, verses 1- 
3; of Pharaoh's permission to go and bury him in 
Canaan, verses 4-6;the grand funeral possession thith- 
er, the mourning made for Jacob, and his interment 
according to his orders, verses 7-13; upon the return 



THE LIFE OF MOSES. 109 

of Joseph and his brethren to Egypt, they fearing his 
resentment of their former usage of him, entreat him 
to forgive them, to which Joseph readily agreed and 
confronts them, and speaks kindly to them, and bids 
them not to fear any hurt from him, for whatever 
was their intention, God meant it; and had overruled 
it for good, verses, 14-21; and the chapter ends with 
an account of Joseph's age and death, and of his 
posterity he saw before his death, and of the charge 
he gave to his brethren to carry his bones with them, 
when they should depart from Egypt, verses 22-26." 



CHAPTER X. 

THE LIFE OF MOSES. 



Ex.l. The first chapter of the second book of Moses, 
called Exodus — "Begins with an account of the 
names and number of the children of Israel that 
came into Egypt with Jacob, verses 1-5, and relates 
the increase of them after the death of Joseph, and 
the generation that went down to Egypt, verses 6, 7, 
8, and what methods the Egyptians took to diminish 
them, but to no purpose, as by obliging them to cruel 
bondage and hard service; and yet the more they af- 
flicted them, the more they increased, verses 9-14, by 
ordering the midwives of the Hebrew women to slay 
every son they laid them of; but fearing God, did not 
obey the order of the king of Egypt; and the people 
multiplied, verses 15-21; and lastly by ordering every 
mail child to be cast into the river, verse 22, which 



1 10 FOOTSTEPS OP THE FLOCK. 

was the leading step to the account of the hirth of 
Moses." 

Ex. II. "This chapter tells of the birth of Moses and 
his preservation in an ark of bulrushes, verses 1,2,3, of 
his being found by Pharaoh's daughter; of his being 
taken up and put out to nurse by her, and adopted 
for her son, verses 1-10; of some exploits of his when 
grown up, of his taking the part of an Hebrew 
against an Egyptian whom he slew; of his endeavor- 
ing to reconcile two Hebrews who were at variance, 
when one of them reproached him with slaying the 
Egyptian, verses 11-11; this thing being known to 
Pharoah he sought to slay Moses, and this obliged 
him to flee to Midian, verse 15, when he met with the 
daughters of Reuel and defended them against the 
shepherds and watered their flocks for them, verses 
16, 17, which Reuel being informed of, sent for him, 
and he lived with him, and married his daughter, 
Zipporah, by whom he had a son, verses 15-22; the 
chapter concludes with the death of the king of 
Egypt, the sore bondage of the Israelites, and their 
cries and groans, which God had respect unto, vers- 
es 23,25." 

Ex. III. "In this chapter we are told that the 
Lord appeared unto Moses in a bush on fire, but not 
consumed, verses 1-6; declared unto him, that he had 
seen the afflictions of the chlidren of Israel, and was 
determined to deliver them, verses 7-9; that he gave 
him a call to be the deliverer of them, and answered 
his objections to it and instructed him what he should 
say both to the elders of Israel and to Pharoah,verses 
10 18; and assured him that though at first Pharaoh 
would refuse to let them go, yet when many miracles 
were wrought, he would be willing to dismiss them, 



THE LIFE OF MOSES. Ill 

and they should depart with great substance, verses 
19, 22." 

Ex. IV. "Is a continuation of the discourse be- 
tween God and Moses; here Moses makes other objec- 
tions to his mission; one is taken from the unbelief of 
the people of Israel, which is removed by giving him 
power to work miracles, by turning the rod in his hand 
into a serpent, and then into a rod again, and by put- 
ting his hand into his bosom at one turn, when it be- 
came leprous, and again into the same place, and it 
became sound and whole, and by turning the water 
of the river into blood, verses 1-9. Another objection 
is formed from his want of eloquence, which is an- 
swered with an assurance that God who made man's 
mouth, would be with his mouth, and teach him what 
to say;and besides, Aaron his brother, who was an elo- 
quent man, should be his spokesman, verses 10-17, 
upon which he returned to Midian, and having ob- 
tained leave of his father-in-law to depart from 
thence, he took his wife and his son and returned to 
Egypt, verses 18-20, at which time he received some 
fresh instructions from the Lord, what he should do 
before Pharaoh, and what he should say unto him, 
verses 21-23; then follows an account of what befell 
him by the way, because of the circumcision of his 
son, verses 24-26, and the chapter is closed with an 
account of the meeting of Moses and Aaron, and of 
their gathering the elders of Israel together, to whom 
the commission of Moses was opened, and signs done 
before them to which they gave credit, and express- 
ed their joy and thankfulness, verses 27-31." 

Ex. V. "Moses and Aaron go in unto Pharaoh 
and desire leave for the children of Israel to go into 
the wilderness, three day's journey, to sacrifice to the 
Lord, and are answered in a very churlish and atheis- 



112 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK . 

tic manner, and are charged with making the people 
idle, the consequence of which was, the task-masters 
had orders to make their work more heavy and toil- 
some, verses 1-9, which orders were executed with 
severity by them, verses 10-13, upon which the of- 
ficers of the children of Israel complained to Pha- 
raoh, but to no purpose, verses 14-19, and meeting 
with Moses and Aaron, lay blame upon thtm, versus 
20--21, which sends Moses to the Lord to expostulate 
with him about it, verses 22, 23." 

Ex. VI. "The Lord encourages Moses to hope for 
success from his name Jehovah, and the covenant he 
had made with the fathers of his people, verses 1-5; 
orders him to assure the children of Israel that he 
will deliver them from their bondage and burdens, 
and bring them into the land of Canaan; but in their 
distress and anguish they hearkened not to him, 
verses 6-9; Moses is sent again to Pharaoh to demand 
the dismission of Israel, to which he seems willing, 
and both he and Aaron are charged, both to go to 
the children of Israel, and to Pharaoh, verses 10-13. 
Next follows a genealogy of the tribes Reuben, Si 
meon and Levi, which seems to be given for the 
sake of Moses and Aaron, to show their descent, 
verses L4 25;who were the persons appointed of God, to 
be the instrument of bringing the children out of 
Egypt, 26-30." 

Ex. VII. "Moses and Aaron are ordered to go 
to Pharaoh, and require the dismission of the people 
of Israel, but they are told before-hand that Pha- 
roah's heart will be hardened, and he will refuse to 
let them go, until the hand of the Lord is stretched out, 
and great judgments are brought down upon Egypt, 
and then they shall come forth, verses 1-5; which 
orders Moses and Aaron obeyed, and their age is ob- 



THE LIFE OF MOSES, 113 

served when this was done, verses 6, 7, and they are 
bid to work a miracle, wlien Plianoh shall demand 
one, by turning a rod into a serpent, which they do; 
bat Pharaoh's migicians doin^ the sane in appear- 
ance his heart was hardened, verses, 8-14; then they 
are directed to meet him at the river, and require the 
same as before; and if he refused, to smite the waters 
of the river with the rod, and turn them into blood, 
which he did, verses 15-21; but Pharaoh's magicians 
doing the same by enchantment, he did not regard 
it, though the plague lasted seven days, verses 32-25." 

Ex. VIII. ''Pharoah is threatened with the plague of 
frogs, in case he refused to let Israel go, which was 
brought upon him, verses 1-6; the magicians did 
something similar to it, yet these were so troublsome 
to Pharaoh that he promised to let the people go, and 
sacrifice to God, if they were removed; and a time 
being fixed for the removal of them, it was accordingly 
done, at the entreaty of Moses and Aaron, verses 7-14; 
but there being a respite, Pharaoh's heart was hard- 
ened, and the plague of lice was ordered; which was 
executed; this the magicians essayed to do, and 
could not, but owned it to the finger of God, yet 
Pharaoh's heart was hardened, verses 15-19; where- 
fore he is threatened with a swarm of flies which 
should not infest Goshen, only the place where the 
Egyptians dwelt, and it was so, verses 20-24; upon 
which Pharaoh called for Moses, and declared him- 
self willing the people should sacrifice in the land;but 
this not being satisfactory, he agreed they should 
go into the wilderness, but not far; and on occount of 
the entreaty of Moses, the plague was removed; 
but still Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he would 
not let the people go, verses 25-32.", 

Ex. IX. "The plague of murrain upon the cattle. 



114 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

was not upon the cattle of thelsraelites, verses 1-7, and 
the plague of boils and blains was on man and beast, 
verses 8-11; Pharaoh's heart being hardened, Moses 
is sent unto him with a message from the Lord, 
threatening him that all his plagues should come upon 
him, particularly, the pestilence, if he would not let 
Israel go; signifying, that to show his power in him, 
and declare his name throughout the earth, he 
had raised him up, and a kind of amazement is 
expressed at his obstinacy and pride 
verses 12-17; and he is told, that a terible storm of 
hail should fall upon the land, and destroy all in the 
field; wherefore, those that regarded the word of the 
Lord got their cattle within doors, but those that did 
not, took no care of them, verses 18-21; and upon 
Moses stretching out his hand, directed by the Lord, 
the storm began, and destroyed everything in the 
field, throughout the land, except the land of Goshen, 
verses 22-26; upon which Pharaoh sent for Moses and 
Aaron, acknowledging his sin, and the justice of 
God, begged that they would entreat for him, which 
Moses did; but when the storm was over, Pharaoh's 
heart was still more hardened, and he refused to let 
the people go, verses 27-35." 

Ex. X. "Is introduced by giving the reason why 
Pharaoh's heart was hardened, verses 1, 2. Moses and 
Aaron go in unto him, and once more demand in the 
name of the Lord the dismission of the people of Is- 
rael, and in case of refusal, threatened him with lo- 
custs being sent into the country, which should make 
terrible havoc of all his coasts, verses 3-6. The ser- 
vants of Pharaoh entreated him to let them go, upon 
which Moses and Aaron are brought in again, and 
treated with about the terms of their depauture; but 
they insisting upon taking all with them, men, wo* 



THE LIFE OF MOSES, 115 

men and children, and flocks and herds, and Pharaoh 
not willing that any but men should go, they are driv- 
en from his presence in wrath, verses 7 11, wherefore 
the locus were brought on all the land, which made 
devastation of it, verses 12-15. This wrought on 
Pharaoh so far as to acknowledge his sin, pray for 
forgiveness, and desire Moses and Aaron to entreat- 
the Lord to remove the plague, which they did, and 
it was removed, but still Pharaoh's heart was harden- 
ed, verses 16-20, Then followed the plague of thick 
darkness over all the land for three days, which 
brought Pharaoh to yield that all should go with them 
except their flocks and herds; but Moses not only in- 
sisted that not a hoof should be left behind, but that 
Pharaoh should give them sacrifices and burnt offer- 
ings, verses 21-26. Pharaoh's heart was hardened, 
and he refused to comply, and Moses was bid to be- 
gone, and take care never to see his face any more, 
which Moses agreed to, verses 27-29." 

Ex. XI. "Moses having an intimation from the 
Lord that one more plague would be brought on 
Pharaoh, and then he would let Israel go, when they 
should borrow of their neighbors jewels of gold and 
silver, the people being in great favor with the 
Egyptians, verses 1-3; he declares to Pharaoh, be- 
fore he goes out from his presence, the slaying of all 
the first born in Egypt, which would issue in the dis- 
mission of Israel, and ihen he goes out from him in 
great anger, verses 3 8; but still Pharaoh would not 
hearken, and his heart was hardened, and he refused 
to let Israel go, verses 9, 10." 

Ex. XII. "This chapter begins by observing, that 
the month in which the above wonders were wrought 
in Egypt, and the following ordinance appointed to 
the Israelitss, should hereafter be reckoned the first 



HO' FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

month in the year, verses 1, 2, on the 10th day of 
which a lamb, here described, was to be taken and 
kept till the 14th, and then slain, and its blood sprink- 
led on the post of the houses of the Israelites, verses 
3 7; the manner of dressing and eating it is shown, 
verses 6-11, and the reason of the institution of this 
ordinance is given, 12, 13, 14, and an order to eat un- 
leaven bread during seven days, in which the feast 
was to be kept, verses 15-20; directions are also given 
for the immidate observance of it, and particularly 
about the sprinkling the blood of the lamb, and the 
use of it, verses 21-23. This ordinance which they 
were to instruct their children in, was to be kept by 
them in succeeding ages forever, verses 24 27. About 
the middle of the night it was first observed, all the 
first born in Egypt were slain, which made the Egyp- 
tians urgent upon the Israelites to depart in haste, 
verses 28-33, which they did, with their unleavened 
dough, and great riches they had borrowed of the 
Egyptians, verses 34-36. The number of the children 
of Israel at the time of their departure, the mixed 
multitude, and cattle that went with them, their bak- 
ing their unleaven cakes; the time of their sojourn in 
Egypt and of their coming out of it that night, which 
made it a remarkable one, are all particularly taken 
notice of, verses 37-42. Laws and rules are given 
concerning the persons that should partake of the 
passover, verses 43-49, and it was kept according to 
the commandment of God, and that it was on the 
same day it was first instituted and kept, that Israel 
was brought out of Egypt, verses 50-51." 

Ex. XIII."This begins with an order to sanctify, or set 
apart Ihe first born of man and beast to the Lord- 
verse 12, and the people of Israel are chaiged to keep 
the feast of unleaven bread in its season, from year 



THE LIFE OF MOJ-ES. 117 

to year, when they shall have come into the land of 
Canaan, the reason of which they were to acquaint 
their children with, verses 3-10. and they are also di- 
rected when come into the land of Canaan, to set a- 
part every firstling of a beast unto the Lord, and par- 
ticularly the firstlings of an ass was to be redeemed 
with a lamb, or its neck to be broken, and men were 
to be redeemed also, verses 11-13, and when their chil- 
dren inquired the reason of it they were to be told it 
was because of the Lord's slaying the first born of 
man and beast among the Egyptians, when Pharaoh 
would not let Israel go, and of his saving the first 
born of his people, verses 14-16; and it is observed 
that when the children of Israel went out of Egypt, 
they were not led by the nearest way, the way of the 
land of the Philistines, but a round about way, the 
way of the wilderness of the Red Sea, when they 
took the bones of Joseph with them, as he had adjur- 
ed them to do, verses 17-19. The chapter is ended 
with an account of their journeying from Succoth to 
Etham the Lord going before them in a pillar of cloud 
by day, and a pillar of fire by night, verses 20-22." 

Ex. XIV. "Begins with directions God gives to 
Moses, to be given to the children of Israel, about the 
course they were to steer their journey, with the reas- 
on thereof, verses 14; which they observing, a report 
was brought to Pharaoh that they had fled, and this 
determined him and his servants to pursue them 
with a great army, verses 5-9; which when the Israel- 
ites saw, put them in great fear, and set them to 
murmuring and complaining against Moses for bring- 
ing them out of Egypt, verses 10, 11, 12, who desired 
them to be still and quiet, and they should see the 
salvation of the Lord, verses 13, 14, and he is bid to 
order the people to go on in their journey, and to 



118 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

take his rod and stretch it over the sea and divide it, 
that Israel may pass through it on dry ground, and 
Egyptians follow them, whereby God would be hon- 
ored and glorified, verses 15-18. Upon which the an 
gel of the Lord in a pillar of cloud removed from be- 
fore them and went behind them for their protection, 
verses 19, 20, and Moses stretching out his hand over 
the sea, and a strong east wind blowing upon it, the 
waters divided and the Israelites went into it, and 
the Egyptians followed + hem, but their host being 
troubled by the Lord, and their chariot wheels taken 
off, they found themsalves in great danger, and were 
thrown into a panic, verses 20-25; and upon Moses 
stretching out his hand again over the sea the waters 
returned, and Pharaoh and his host were drowned, 
but Israel passed through safely, as on dry ground, 
verses 26-29; which great work of the Lord being ob- 
served by them, influenced their fear of him, their 
faith in him, and in his servant Moses, verses 30, 31. 9 * 

Ex, XV. "This chapter contains the song of Moses, 
and of the children of Israel, on the banks of the Red 
sea; in which they celebrate their passage through it, 
the destruction of Pharaoh and his host in it, and the 
glory of the divine perfections displayed therein, in- 
terspersed with prophetic hints of things future, 
verses 1-19, which same song was sung by the wo- 
men with Miriam at the head of them, attended with 
timbrels and dancers, verses 20-21. An account is 
given of the march of the children of Israel from the 
Red sea to the wilderness of Shur, and of the bitter 
water found at Marah, which occasioned murmuring 
and of their beiiig made sweet by casting a tree into 
them, verses 22-25, when they were told by the Lord, 
that if they would yield obedience to his commands, 
they should be free from the diseases the Egyptians 



THtt LIFE OP MOStfS. 11!) 

had been afficted with, verse 26. The chapter is con« 
eluded with their coming to Elim, where were found 
twelve wells of water, and seventy palm trees and 
there they encamped, verse 27." 

Ex. XVI. '-This chapter begins with an account of 
the journeying of the children of Israel from Elam to 
the wilderness of Lin, where they murmured for want 
of bread, verses 1-3, when the lord told Moses, that 
he would rain bread from heaven for them, which 
Moses informed them of; and withal, that the Lord 
took notice of their murmurings, verses 4-12; which 
promise the Lord fulfilled; and a description of the 
bread and the name of it, are given, verses 13-15, and 
some instructions are delivered concerning the quan- 
tity of it to be gathered, verses 16-18, the time of 
gathering and keeping it, verses 19-21, the gathering of 
a double quantity on the sixth day for that and the 
seventh day, with the reason of it, verse 31, and an 
order to preserve an omen of it in a pot, to be kept 
for generations to come, that it might be seen of them, 
verses 32-34. This bread was eaten by the Israelites 
for forty years, even till they came to the borders of 
the land of Canaan; the quntity they ate every day 
is observed, verse 35, 36" (which is supposed to be 
94,466 bushels per day, and in forty years to amount 
1,379,203,600 bushels). 

Ex. XVII. "The children of Israel coming to Rep- 
hidim,want water and chide with Moses about it, who 
crying to the Lord is bid to smite the rock, from 
whence there came water for them, and he named 
the place from their contention with him, verses 1-7 
at this place Amalek came and fought with Israel, 
who through the prayers of Moses, signified by the 
holding up of his hands and by the sword of Joshua, 
was vanquished, verses 8-13, for the rcmemberance of 



120 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

which it was ordered to be recorded in a rook, and 
an alter was built with this inscription on it, Jeho- 
vah- nissi;\t being the will of God thatAmUek should 
be fought within every generation, until utterly des- 
troyed, verses 14-16." 

Ex, XVIII. "Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, with Zip- 
porah his daughter, the wife of Moses, and her two 
sons meet him in the wildernass, and are kindly re- 
ceived by him, verses 1-7, and on Moses stating the 
great things God had done for Israel, Jethro express- 
ed his joy, and gave praise to God, offered sacrifiice 
and kept a feast with the elders of Israel, verses 8-12; 
observing the constant and fatiguing work Moses had 
on his hands, from morning to evening, in judging 
the people, verses 13-18, he gave him advice to ap- 
point persons under him, to receive laws and ordi- 
nances from him, he should have from God, and ac- 
cording to them judge and govern the people under 
them; some to be rulers over thousands, others overd 
hundreds, others over fifties, and some over tens, 
verses 19-23, which counsel was acceptable to Moses, 
and be took it, verses 24-26; then follows their friend- 
ly parting, verse 27." 

Ex. XIX. "Here we have an account of the coming 
of the children of Israel to Mount Sinai, verses 1, 2; 
of the covenant male with them there and their accep 
tance of it, verses 3-8; the previous notice God gave, 
three days before, of his appearance on the Mount; 
the orders for their preparation to meet him, and the 
execution of them, verses 9-12; the awful and tremen- 
dous appearance of God upon the Mount, verses 16- 
20; and the strict charge given, that neither people, 
nor priest should come near and gaze, only Moses 
and Aaron with him were to come up, bounds being 
set to prevent the rest, verses 21-24; the chapter is 



THE LIFtt OF MOSES. 121 

closed with observing, that Moses went down from 
the Mount, and delivered to the people what the Lord 
spoke to him, verse 25." 

Ex. XX. "We have here an account of the giving 
of the law on Mount Sinai, verses 1, 2; the ten com- 
mandments it consisted of, verses 3-18; the circum- 
stances attending it, which caused the people to re- 
move at some distance, verse 18; when they desired 
of Moses that he would speak to them, and not God, 
who bid them not to fear, since this was for the trial 
of them; but still they kept at a distance; while Moses 
drew nigh to God, verses 19, 20, 21, who ordered him 
to caution the children of Israel against idolatry, and 
directed what sort of an alter he would have made, 
whereon to offer their sacrifices, promising that 
where his name was recorded he would grant his 
presence and blessing, verses 22-26." 

Ex. XXI. "In this and the following chapters, are 
delivered various laws and preceipts, partly moral, 
and partly of a religious, but chiefly of a civil nature, 
respecting the commonwealth of Israel^ and its polit- 
ical good. This chapter treats of servants and laws 
relating to them; likewise it contains laws concern- 
ing the slaughter of men, whether with design or un- 
awares, verses 12-14, and concerning the ill usage of 
parents, verses 15-17, and man-stealing, verse 16, and 
of mischief that comes by man's quarrelling and fight- 
ing, verses 18, 19, and by smiting a man-servant or 
maid-servant, &c." 

I omit the residue of this, and the 21st, 22nd, and 
23rd chapters to the 20th verse. Then a promise is 
made of sending an angel to them to bring them into 
the land of Canaan, where they should carefully avoid 
idolatry, and show a just indignation against it, and 



122 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

serve the Lord, and then it should be well with the n; 
verses 20-26: particularly it is promised that the Lord 
would send his fear and his hornets before them to 
destroy the inhabitants of the land, and drive the n 
out, little by little, until they should possess the ut- 
most borders of it, which are fixed, verses 27-31. The 
chapter is concluded with a command not to make 
a covenant with these people, or their gods, nor suf- 
fer them to dwell among them, lest they should be 
a snare unto them, verses 32, 33. 

Ex, XXIV. "Moses was ordered to come up to the 
Lord alone, verses 1, 2; but before he did go up, to 
relate to the people all the laws delivered to him, 
which they promised to obey, and so a covenant was 
made between God and the people by a sacrifice, and 
by the sprinkling of blood, verses 3 8, upon which he 
and Aaron and his two isons, and seventy elders of 
Israel went up part of the mountain and had a vis- 
ion of God, verses 9-11; when Moses and Joshua were 
called, and went up higher, until at length he entered 
into the cloud where the Lord was, and continued 
forty days and forty nights, verses 12-18." 

Ex. XXV. "This chapter, and succeeding chapters 
to the 32nd, contains the order to build a sanctuary 
for God; the manner of its construction, and its 
furniture, of the persons who are to minister to him, 
and the garments they are to wear, the manner of 
Aaron and his sons' consecration, the altar of incense, 
its form and use, and of the persons God had chosen 
and qualified for the work of the building of the tab- 
ernacle, and all things relating to it." 

Ex. 32. "This chapter gives account of the idola- 
try of the Israelites, making and worshipping a gold- 
en calf, verses 1-6; the information of it God gave to 
Moses ? bidding him at the same time not to make inter- 



THE LIFE OF MOSES. 123 

cession for them, that he might consume them, and 
make a large nation out of Moses family, verses, 7- 
10; the intercession of Moses for them, in which, he 
succeeds, verses 11-14; his descent from the mount 
with the two tables in his hands, accompanied by 
Joshua, where he was an eye witness of their idola- 
try which so raised his indignation, that he cast the 
two tables out of his hands and broke, them, and 
took the calf and burnt it, and ground it to powder, 
and made the children of Israel drink of it, verses 15- 
20; the examination of Aaron about the fact, who ex- 
cused himself, verses 21-24; the order given to the 
Levites, who had joined themselves to Moses, to slay 
every man his brother, which they did to the num- 
ber of three thousand men, verses 25-29; another in- 
tercession for them by Moses, which gained respite 
for them for a time, for they were threatened to be 
visited still for their sin, and they were plagued for 
it, verses 30-35." -j 

Ez. XXXIII. "The Lord refusing to go with the 
people, only to send an angel with them, filled them 
with concern and they are troubled, verses 1-6. Moses 
pitched the tabernacle without the camp, where 
every one who saught the Lord went; Moses entered 
into it himself, and the Lord talked with him in ? a 
cloudy pillar, that stood at the door of it, and the 
people worshipped, every man at his own tent door, 
all of which foreboded good, and tended to reconoHa- 
tion, verses 7-ll;Moses improves the opportunity, and 
intreats the presence of the Lord to go with them, 
which is granted, verses 12-17, and that he might 
have a sight of the glory of God; this is promised \o 
pass before him, he being put in the cliff of the rock, 
verses 18-23." 

Ex. XXXIV. "Moses is ordered to hew two taj^es 



124 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

of stone, that G-od miy write, on them the ten com- 
mandments, and bring them up with him to the 
mount, verse 1-4; where the Lord proclaimed his 
name, and caused his glory and his goodness to pass 
before him, verses 5, 7: when Moses took this oportu- 
nity to pray for the people, that God would forgive 
their sin, and go along with them, verses 8, 9; upon 
which he made a covenant with them, which on his 
part, was to do wonders for them, and drive out the 
inhabitants of Canaan before them;and on their part, 
that they should have no confederacy and commun- 
ion with these nations and shun their idolatry, and 
everything that might lead unto it, verses 10-17, and 
he repeated several laws before given, and urged the 
obedience of them, which Moses was to acquaint 
the people with, verses 18-27; after a stay of forty 
days and forty nights on the mount, he came down 
with the two tables of the law; and the skin of his 
face shown so bright, that the people of Israel were 
afraid to come nigh him, therefore he put a vail over 
his face, while he conversed with them, verses 28-35." 

Ex. XXX>. "This and the remaining chapters of 
Exodus, contain the laws concerning the Sabbath, 
freewill offerings for the service of the sanctuary, 
the articles and material to be used, &c, the making 
of the tabernacle and the furniture of it, the altar of 
burnt offering, the clothes for the service of the tab- 
ernacle and garments of the priests, &c, and the set- 
ting up of the tabernacle." 

Leviticus. "That this book was written by Moses 
is affirmed by the New Testament—see Matt. vin. 4; 
John vin. 5. The matter of it was delivered untoMoses, 
and very likely by him then written upon the erection 
of the tabernacle, which was the second year of the 
coming out of Egypt, in the first month,Exodus xl.17, 



THE LIFE OF MOSES. 125 

and it was the same day that the Lord spake to Moses 
out of it, and delivered to him the law concerning sac- 
rifices, recorded in the first seven chapters — see 
Numb. i. 1, compared with Lev, i. 1; and on the 
eighth day of the same month, and some following 
days, the remainder of it was given to him and writ- 
ten by him; it was written in the year from the crea- 
tion of the world 2514, and about 1490 years before 
Christ. The various services, rites and ceremonies, 
made mention of in it, were types of Christ;and shad- 
ows of good things to come by him: there are many 
things in it which give great light to several passages 
in the New Testament, and are worthy of diligent 
consideration." 

Numbers. "This book contains a history of the 
affairs of the Israelites, and of their travel in the wil- 
derness for the space of thirty-eight years; though 
the principal facts it relates were done in the second 
year of their coming out of Egypt, and the last year 
of their being in the wilderness; is not merely histori- 
cal, but gives a particular account of several laws, 
ceremonial and judicial, to be observed by the peo- 
ple of Israel, as well as has many things instructive, 
both of a moral and evangelical nature." 

Deut I. 6=7. The Lord our God spake unto us in 
Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this 
mount; turn you and take your journey, and 
go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the 
places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and 
in the vale, and the south, and by the sea side, to the 
land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the 
river Euphrates. 

Cent. I. 8. Behold I have set the land before you; 



126 FOOTSTEPS OP THE FLOCK. 

go in and possess the land which the Lord swear un- 
to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give 
unto them, and their seed after them. 

Deut. I. 10. The Lord your God hath multiplied 
you, and, behold you are this day as the star s of the 
heaven for multitude. 

Deut. I. 11. (The Lord God of your fathers make 
you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and 
bless you as he has promised you.) 

Deet. 1. 19. And when we departed from Horeb,we 
went through all that great and terrible wilderness, 
which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the 
Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded us; and 
we came to Kadeshbarnea. 

Deut. I. 20. And I said unto you, Yea are come un- 
to the mountains of the Amorites, which the Lord 
our God doth give unto us. 

Deut. 1. 21. Behold the Lord thy God hath set the 
land before thee; go up and posses it, as the Lord God 
of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither 
be discouraged. 

Dent. I. 22. And ye came near unto me everyone 
of you, and said, We will send men before us, and 
they shall search out the land, and bring us word 
again by what way we must go up, and into what 
cities we shall come. 

Deut. I. 23. And the saying pleased me well; and I 
took twelve men of you, one of a tribe; 

Deut. 1. 24. And they turned, and went up into 
the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eschol, 
and searched it out. 

Deut. I. 25. And they took of the fruit of the land 
in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and 



THE LIFE OF MOSES. 127 

brought us word again, and said, It is a good land the 
Lord our God doth give us. 

Deut. I. 26. Notwithstanding, ye would not go up, 
but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord 
your God. 

Deut. I. 27. And ye mummered in your tents, and 
said, Because the Lord hated us, he hath brought us 
fourth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into 
the hand of the Amorites, to distroy us. 

Deut» I, 28. Whither shall ye go up? Our breth- 
ren have discouraged our heart, saying, the people is 
greater and taller than we; the cities are great and 
walled up to heaven, and, moreover, we have seen the 
sons of the Anakins there. 

Deut. I. 29. Then said I unto you, Dread not,neither 
be afraid of them. 

Deut. I. 30. The Lord your God which goeth before 
you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he 
did for you in Egypt before your eyes; 

Deut. I. 31. And in the wilderness where thou hast 
seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee, as a man 
doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until 
ye came into this place. 

Deut. 1. 32. Yet in this thing ye did not believe the 
Lord your God, 

Deut. I. 33. Who went in the way before you, to 
search out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by 
night to show you what way ye should go, and in 
a cloud by day, 

Deut, I. 34. And the Lord heard the voice of your 
words, and was wroth, and sware, saying, 

Demt. I. 35. Surely there shall not one of these 



128 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

men of this evil generation see that good land, which 
I swear to give unto your fathers; 

Deut. 1, 36. Save Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, he 

shall see it; and to him will I give the land that he 

hath trodden upon and to his children, because he 
hath wholly followed the Lord. 

Deut. I. 37. Also the Lord was angry with me for 
your sake saying, Thou shalt not go in thither. 

"Not at the same time, though some think at the 
same place, near 38 years afterwards, they provoked 
him to speak unadvisedly with his lips; see Numb, 
xx. 10, 11, 12; Psa. cvi. 32, 33: saying, thou shalt not 
go in thither; into the land of Canaan, though he 
greatly importuned it, he could not prevail — see 
Deut. in. 25, 26, 27." 

Deut. I. 38. But Joshua, the son of Nun, which 
standeth before thee, shall go in thither; encourage 
him; for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 

Deut. I. 29. Moreover your little ones, which ye 
said should be a prey, and your children, which in 
that day had no knowledge between good and evil, 
they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, 
and they shall possess it. 

Deut. I. 40. But as for you turn you and take your 
journey into the wilderness, by the way of the Red 
sea. 

Deut. I. 41. Then ye answered and said unto me. 
We have sinned against the Lord, we will go up and 
fight according to all that the Lord our God hath com- 
manded us. And when ye had girded on ever man 
his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up into the 
hill. 

Deut. 1. 42. The Lord said unto me, Say unto them, Go 



THE LIFE OF MOSES, 129' 

to up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest you 
be smitten by your enemy. 

Deut. I. 43. So I spake unto you, and ye would not 
hear, but rebelled against the commandments of the 
Lord, and went presumptively up into the hill, 

Deut. I. 44. And the Amorites, which dwelt in that 
mountain, come out and chased }ou, as bets do, and 
destroyed you in Seir even unto Hormah. 

Deut. 1. 45. And ye returned and w T ept before the 
Lord; bat the Lord would not hearken to your voice, 
nor give ear unto you, 

Deut, II. ''Moses goes on with his account of the 
affairs of the people of Israel, and what befell them, 
now they turned into the wilderness again, but passed 
over in silence their travels there, till they came to 
Mount Seir, where having been some time they were 
bid to depart, verses 1, 2, 3, and were directed not to 
meddle with the Edomites, or take anything from 
them, but to pay them for what they should have of 
them, since they lacked not, verses 4-8; nor to distress 
the Moabites,of whose country, formerly inhabited by 
them and also Edom,some account is given, verses 9-12; 
when they were bid to go over the brook of Zered, to 
which, from their coming from Kadesh-barnea, was 
the space of thirty eight-years, in which time the for- 
mer generation was consumed, verses 13-16, and now 
passing along the borders of Moab,they were ordered 
not to meddle with, nor distress the children of Ammon 
of whose land also and the former inhabitants of it, 
an account is given, verses 17-23; then passing over 
the river Arnon, they are bid to fight with Sihon king 
of Heshbon,and possess his land, verses 24,25;to whom 
they sent messengers, desiring leave to pass through 
his land, and to furnish them with provisions for 



ISO FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK, 

their money, as the Edomites and Moabites had done 
verses 26-29, but he refusing, gave them opportunity 
to attack him, in which they succeeded, slew him and 
his people and took possession of his country." 

Deut. III. "In this chapter the account is carried 
on of the conquest of the Amorites by Israel, of Og 
King of Bashan, and his kingdom, verses 1-11, and 
of the distribution of their country to the tribes of 
Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manassah, 
verses 12-17, and then the command to the said tribes 
to go out armed before their brethren, and assist 
them in the conquest of the land of Canaan, and then 
return to their possessions, verses 18-20, and also a 
command to Joshua not to fear, but to do to the Cana- 
anitish kings and kingdoms, what he had done to 
the two kings of the Amorites, verses 21, 22. After 
which Moses relates the request he made, to go over 
Jordan and see the good land which was denied him, 
only he is bidden to look from the top of a hill to see 
it, verses 23-27. The chapter closes with the charge 
he was to give Joshua, verse 28, which was received 
in the valley where they abode, verse 29." 

Deut. IV. "This chapter contains an exhortation 
to Israel to keep the commands, statutes and judge- 
ments of God, urged from the superior excellency of 
them, to those of all other nations, verses 1-8, from 
the manner in which they were delivered, out of the 
midst of fire, by a voice of words, but no similitude 
seen, verses 9-15, and the Israelites are particularly 
cautioned against idolatry, from the consideration of 
the goodness of God to them, in bringing them out 
of Egypt, verses 16-20, and the rather Moses is urgent 
upon them to be diligent in their obedience to the 
laws of God because he should quickly be removed 
from them, verses 21-24, and should they be disobed- 



THE LIFE OP MOSES. 131 

«nt to them, it would provoke the Lord to destroy 
them, or to carry them captives into other lands, 
verses 25-18, though then, even then, if they repented 
and sought the Lord, and became obedient, he would 
be merciful to them, and not forsake them, verses 29- 

31, and they are put in mind again of the amazing 
things God had done for them, in speaking to them 
out of fire, and they alive, in bringing them out of an- 
other nation and driving out other nations to make 
for them a home, all of which he used as so many argu- 
ments to move them to obedience to the divine com- 
mands, verses 32-40, and then notice is taken of the 
cities of refuge, <fcc." 

Deut. V. "Moses after a short preface, verses 1-5, 
repeats the law of the decalogue, or ten command- 
ments, with some little variation, verses 6-21, and 
then reminds the Israelites of the terrible manner in 
which it was delivered to them, verses 22, 23, which 
put them upon making a request that Moses might be 
a mediator between God and them, and hear what 
the Lord had to say and repeat it to them, to which 
they promised obedience, verses 24-27, which being 
agreeable to the Lord was granted, verses 28-31, and 
this laid them under a greater obligation to observe 
the commandments of God, and keep them, verses 

32, 33." 

Deut. VI. "Moses proceeds in his exhortations to 
the people of Israel, to attend to the commandments 
of God, that it might be well with them, verses 1-3, 
and begins with a principal and fundamental article 
of religion, which deserves their first and chief regard, 
the unity of God, and the love of him, verses 4, 5, 
which they were careful to instruct their children 
in, and even to be mindful of themselves, verses 6-9, 
and when they were come into the land of Canaan, 



132 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

and into a plentiful enjoyment of all good things in 
it, they are exhorted to be careful not to forget the 
Lord, their kind benefactor; but to fear him, serve 
him, and not go after other gods, since he is jealous of 
his honor and worship, verses 10-15; and not to tempt 
him as they had done, but diligently keep his com- 
mandments, that it might be well with them in that 
land, verses 16-19; and when their children inquired 
the reason and meaning of such testimonies, statu- 
ates, and judgments, they were to give them the his- 
tory of their case in Egypt, their deliverance from 
thence, the wonders that were wrought for them, and 
the introduction of them into the good land of Ca- 
naan, and to let them know that these commandments 
were in commemoration of these blessings, and by 
these they were laid under obligations to regard them 
since they were not only for the glory of God, but for 
their own good, verses 20-25." 

Deut. VII. -'The Israelites are exhorted to destroy 
the seven nations of the land of Canaan, when they 
entered into it, and to make no alliance with them of 
any kind, nor suffer any remains of idolatry to con- 
tinue, verses 1-5; to observe which and other com- 
mandment God, for they are urged from the 
consideration of their being freely chosen 
of God above all other people and of 
their being redeemed out of the house of bondage, 
and of the Lord's being a covenant keeping God to 
them, verses 6-11, and it is promised them, for their 
future encouragement to keep the commands of 
God, that they should have an increase of all tempo- 
ral good things and no evils and calamities should 
come upon them, verses 12-16, and lest they should 
be disheartened at the number and might of their en- 
emies, they are put in mind of what God had done for. 

9* 



THE LIFE OF MOSES. 133 

them iii Egypt, and of what he had promised to do 
for them now, verses 17-20 and they are assured that 
the nations should be cast out before them, by little 
and little, until they were utterly destroyed, verses 
21-24; and the chapter is concluded with an exhora- 
tion to destroy their images, and not let anything of 
that sort be brought in their houses, verses 25, 26." 

Deut. VIII. "Moses repeats the exhortation to keep the 
commands of God, and urges the Israelites to it, from 
the consideration of the great good God had done for 
them in the wilderness, and even in those instances 
which were chastisements, and even of an humiliat- 
ing nature, verses 1-6, and on consideration of the 
blessings of the good land they were going to possess, 
verses 7, 8, 9, for which blessings they should be 
thankful, and are cautioned against pride of heart 
through them, and forgetfulness of God, and his 
goodness to them whilst in the wilderness, and when 
brought into the land of Canaan, which they were to 
ascribe to his power and goodness, and not their own, 
verses 10-18. The chapter is concluded with a warn- 
ing against idolatry, lest they perish through it, as 
the nations before them, verses 19, 20." 

Deut. IX, "The Israelites are assured of the ejec- 
tion of theCanaanites, though so great and mighty, 
to make room for them, verses 1, 2, 3, and they are 
cautioned not to attribute this to their own righteous- 
ness, but as to the righteousness of the nations which 
deserve to be treated so, and to the faithfulness of 
God in performing his promises made to their fathers, 
verses 4, 5, 6, and that it might appear that it could 
not be owing to their righteosness, it is affirmed and 
proved that they have been a rebellious and provok- 
ing people from their coming out of Egypt to that 
time, as was evident from their idolatry at Horeb, a 



134 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK, 

paiticular account of which is given, and of the dis- 
pleasure of the Lord at it, verses 7-21, and their mur- 
murings with which they provoked the Lord in other 
places, verses 22-24. The chapter is closed with the 
prayer of Moses for them on Horeb, to avert the 
wrath of God from them for their making and wor- 
shipping the golden calf, verses 25-29." 

Deut. X. '-An account is given of the order to 
Moses to hew two tables of stone, on which the Lord 
would write the words that were on the first, and 
make an ark and put them into it, &c." 

Deut. XI. "In this chapter, the exhortation to love 
the Lord and keep his commandments is repeated and 
urged again, and again, from various considerations, 
&c." 

Deut. XII. "In this chapter orders are given to de- 
sotry all the altars, pillars, groves and images made 
for the worship of idols in the land of Canaan, verses 
I, 2, 3, and to bring all sacrifices and holy things un- 
to the place which the Lord should choose for his 
habitation, and not do as they then did, not being 
come to their rest, verses 4-14, &c. The residue of 
this book to the 31st chapter contains the laws and 
regulations given to the Israelites." 

Deut. XXXI. "Moses being old, and knowing he 
should quickly die, and must not go over Jordan with 
the people of Israel, acquainted them with it, and en- 
courages them and Joshua to go over, notwithstand- 
ing, and not be afraid of their enemies, since the 
Lord would go with them, and deliver them into their 
hands, verses 1-8, and having written the law and de- 
livered it to the priest, and ordered that it should be 
read at the end of every seven years, before all the 
people, that they and theirs might learn it,, and fear 



THU LIFE OF MOSES, 135 

the Lord, verses 9-13;and whereas the death of Moses 
was very near, and the Lord foreseeing that the peo- 
wouid quickly go into idolatry, which would bring 
great calamities upon them, directed Moses to write 
a song, which should be a witness for him, and a- 
gainst them, in ages to come; Moses accordingly did, 
verses 11-23; and Moses having given charges to Josh- 
ua, and finished the writing of laws in a book, gave 
it to the Levites to put it in the side of the ark, verses 
23-27, and then ordered the chief of the tribes to be 
gathered together, that he might deliver the song, 
which by the directions and inspiration of God he had 
written, verses 28-30," 

Deut. XXXII. "This chapter contains the song re- 
ferred to in the former, the preface to it, verses 1, 2, 
3, the character of the divine and illustrious Person 
it chiefly respects, verse 4, the ingratitude of the peo- 
ple of the Jews to him, who were a crooked and per- 
verse generation, aggravated by his having brought, 
made and established them, verses 5, 6, and which is 
further aggravated by various instances of divine 
goodness to them, first in providing and reserving a 
suitable country for them, at the time of the division 
of the earth to the sons of men, with the reason of it, 
verses 7, 8, 9; then what the Lord did for them in the 
wilderness, verses 10-12, after that in the land of 
Canaan, when they enjoyed plenty of all good things 
and in the possession of which they were, when the 
illustrious Person described appeared among them 
verses 13, 14; and when the sin of ingratitude to him 
before hinted at, is fully expressed, namely, lightly 
esteeming the Rock of Salvation, the Messiah, verses 
15; nor could they stop here, but proceeded to more 
ungodliness, setting up other messiahs and saviors, 
which were an abomination to the Lord, verse 16, 



136 FOOTSTEPS OF THK FLOCK. 

continuing sacrifices when they should not, which 
were therefore reckoned no other than sacrifices to 
demons, and especially the setting up of their new 
idols, their own righteousness, was highly provoking 
and by all this they clearly showd they had forgot 
the Rock, the Saviour, verses 17,18; wherefore for the 
rejection of the Messiah and their persecution of his 
followers, they would be abhored of God, verse 19, 
who would show him his resentment by the rejection 
of them, by calling the Gentiles, and by bringing the 
nations of the Romans upon them, verses 20, 21, 
whereby utter ruin and destruction in all its shapes 
would be brought upon them, verses 22-25, and were 
it not for the insolence of their adversaries, would be 
entirely destroyed, being such a foolish and unwise 
people, which appears by not observing what the 
enemies of the Messiah themselves allow, that there 
is no rock like him, whom they despise, verses 26-31, 
which enemies are described, and the vengeance re- 
served for them pointed out, verses 32-35, and the song 
closes with promises of grace and merely to the Lord's 
people and wrath and ruin to his and their enemies, 
on which account all are called upon to rejoice in the 
latter day, verses 36-43; and this song being belivered 
by Moses, the people of Israel are exhorted to serious- 
ly attend to it, it being of the utmost importance to 
them, verses 41-47. The chapter is concluded with 
an order of Moses to go up to Mount Nebo and die, 
with the reason of it, verses 4 8 52/' 

Deut. XXXIII. "This chapter relates the blessings 
Moses pronounced upon the people of Israel a little 
while before his death; first, in general, on account 
of their having a law given them in so glorious a 
m inner, verses 1-5; then in particular, the several 
tribes are distinctly blessed; Reuben, verse 6; Judah, 



JOSHUA AND HIS SUCCESSORS. 137 

verse 7; Levi, verses 8-11; Benjamin, verse 12; Josep, 
verses 13 -17; Zebulon and Issachar, verses 18, 19; Gad, 
verses 20, 21; Dan, verse 22;Naphtali, verse 23;Asher, 
verses 24, 25; and the chapter concludes with some 
strong intimations of what God was unto the people 
of Israel in general, and what he had done and would 
do for them; all of which are expressive of their 
great happiness, verses 26-29." 

Deut. XXXIV. "This tells of Moses going to the top of 
Pisgah, where he was shown the whole land of Ca- 
naan, verses 1-4; of his death, burial, and age, verses 
5, 6, 7; of Israel's mourning for him, and the time of 
it, verse 8; of his successor, Joshua, verse 9, and of 
the character of Moses, to whom no prophet was to 
to be compared, verses 10-12." 



CHAPTER XL 

JOSHUA AND HIS SUCCESSORS. 

The Book of Joshua. "The subject matter of this 
book, is Joshua's taking upon him the govenment of 
the children of Israel, after the death of Moses, by a 
divine commission, exhortation and encouragement 
given him to engage in war with the Canaanites, his 
conquest of them, the division of the land of Canaan 
to the children of Israel, and" their settlement in it. 
It is of great use not only to give us the geography 
of the land of Canaan, and the history of the church 
of God from the death of Moses to the judges; but 
shows the exact fulfilment of the prophecy, and the 



138 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

faithfulness of God of his promises, in giving the 
land of Canaan to Israel, according to those made to 
their fathers, and the justice of God in punishing the 
Canaanites for their abominable sins, as had been fore- 
told; and the worderful care of God, and his love to 
the people of Israel, in protecting and preserving 
them, and settling them in such a good land, not- 
withstanding all their murmurings, ingratitude and 
unbelief in the wilderness. It may serve also to lead 
us to Christ, whose type Joshua was in all that he 
here related; his name has the signification of the sal- 
vation of the Lord in it; as he is called by the Greek 
writers, and so in the New Testament, Jesus a Savior. 
Acts vii. 45; Heb. iv. 8; and as they agree in their 
name, so they do in their state, condition and char- 
acter. Joshua was a servant of Moses; Christ was 
made under the law, and became subject to it, both 
moral and ceremonial;and in their office, Joshua was 
the govenor of Israel, and commander of their forces, 
for which he was well qualified with wisdom, cour- 
age and integrity; Christ is king of saints, and leader 
and commander of the people, who have fought their 
battles for them, being abundantly qualified, having 
the spirit of wisdom, counsel, might, and the love of 
the Lord resting on him. Joshua was a type of 
Christ, in various actions of his; in leading the people 
through the river Jordan, an emblem either of bap- 
tism, or of afflictions; or of death itself, in which he 
is with his people, and carries them through; in sav- 
ing Rabah and her family, so God saves the worst 
and chief of sinners; in receiving the Gibeonites who 
submitted to him, as Christ does all that come to him; 
in his conquest of the several kings of the Canaan- 
ite, so Christ has conquered all the spiritual enemies 
of his people, sin, Satan, and the world; in bringing 
and setting the people in the land of Canaan, their 



Joshua and hls successors. 139 

rest, and dividing it to them by lot, which Moses 
might not do; so Christ alone brings souls into true 
rest, into spiritual rest here, and eternal rest hereaf- 
ter; in whom they obtain the inheritance of the heav- 
enly glory by lot, and by whom they obtain and en- 
joy salvation and eternal life;and not by works of the 
law. This book contains the history of Joshua, of 
his government, his acts and deeds, from the death 
of Moses to his own;how long that was is not certain, 
Christian writers make his reign to be twenty-seven 
years." 

Finding, however, that my book is growing too 
voluminous, with regret I am made to to pass over the 
first twenty-three chapters of this book, and the 
comments on them, and ask your attention to the 24th. 

Joshua XXIV. "This chapter gives an account of a 
second summoning of the children of Israel before 
the Lord at Shechem, verse 1; when Joshua in the 
name of the Lord rehearsed to them, the many great 
and good things the Lord had done for them, from 
the time of Abraham to that day, verses 2-13;andthen 
exhorted them to fear and serve the Lord and reject 
idols, verse 14;and put them upon making a choice, 
whether they would rather serve the true God, or the 
gods of the Canaanites; and they having chosen the 
true God; he advised them to abide by their choice, 
15-24; and made a covenant with them to that pur- 
pose, 25-28, The chapter is closed with an account 
of the death and burial of Joshua and Eliezer." 

The book of Judges "seems to be the work of one 
person only; it is not certain who was that person, 
some ascribe it to king Hezikiah, others to Ezra and 
the Jewish writers to Samuel, which is most likely, 
who was the last of the judges. It is useful as a his- 
tory, and without which the history of the 



140 FOOTSTEPS OP" THE FLOCK. 

people of Israel would not be complete; it 
contains an account of all the judges except the last 
two Eli, and Samuel, of whom an account is given 
in the following books, and of some facts inci- 
dental to those times, related in an appendix at the 
end of it, concerning the idol of Micah, and the war 
of Benjamin; and furnishes out many useful moral 
obligations concerning God's displeasure at sin in his 
own people Israel, and his correction for it; and 
about his providential care of them in raising up for 
them deliverers in their time of need, as well as points 
out various virtues and excellencies in great and 
good men, worthy of imitation. It contains, accord- 
ing to Dr.Lightfoot and others, a history of 299 years." 

The book of Ruth. "The Talmudists assert, and it is 
most probable, that Samuel wrote his own book, 
Judges, and Ruth, and it is commonly said that this 
book is an appendix to that of Judges, and an intro- 
duction to Samuel and is fitly placed between them 
both. According to Euselius, with the Hebrews, 
Judges and Ruth make one book; the principal de- 
sign of it is to give the genealogy of David, whom 
Samuel had annointed to be king of Israel, and from 
whom the Messiah was to come, who therefore may 
be said to be the aim and scope of it, as he is of all 
Scripture; and whereby it appears that he sprung 
both from Jews and Gentiles and is Savior of both, 
and there is a good foundation for both to hope in 
him; and the call and conversion of Ruth the Moab- 
itess may be considered as a shadow, emblem, and 
pledge of the conversion of Gentiles. Many things 
besides may be learned from this little book; as the 
different circumstances of good people in this life, 
and the particular providence of God respecting them. 
It furnishes examples of bearing afflictions patiently, 
of industry, of courteousness, of kindness to Strang- 



THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL. 141 

ers and to young converts; none doubt the divine au- 
thority of this book, that consider the use of it in the 
genealogies of Ghrist by the evangelists Matthew 
and Luke." 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL. 

The First Book of Samuel. "It contains a history of 
the goverment of Eli, and the birth of Samuel, and 
his education under him; of the succcession of Sam- 
uel in it, and the resignation of it to Saul, when he 
was chosen king, of his administration, of his office, 
and of things done in the time of it, before and after 
his rejection, and of the persecution of David by 
Saul, and is concluded with his death." 

The Second Book of Samuel. "It contains in it a fam- 
ous prophecy concerning the building of the temple 
by a son of David, which had an exact accomplish- 
ment, 2 Samuel vn. 12, 13; as well as of the family of 
David, for a great while to come, which also was ful- 
filled, verse 19; and an emminent passage concern- 
ing the Messiah, the son of David, and of his divine 
Sonship, verse 14;quoted by the apostle Paul in proof 
of it, Heb. i.5. It contains a history of about forty 
years, for so long David reigned, seven years and six 
months in Hebron, over Judah, and thirty-three 
years in Jerusalem, over all Israel and Judah; and 
this book relates his last words," 



112 FOOTSTKPS OF THE FLOCK. 

Kings. The first ami second b >oks of Kings are real- 
ly one book divided into two books on account of the 
bigness of it, as is the book of Samuel. 

"The use of these books is to carry on the history 
of the Jewish nation, to show the state of the church 
of God in those times, and his providential care of 
it, amidst all the changes and vicissitudes in that 
state; and above all, to transmit to us the true gene- 
alogy of the Messiah, which serves to confirm the 
Evangelist, Matthew's account of it." 

The First Book of Chronicles. "The use and design of 
these books are chiefly to give a larger account of the 
kingdom of Judah, especially after the division of it 
from the ten tribes, and of the kings thereof, than 
what is given in the preceding books, as in the last 
of these books; and particularly they ascertain the 
genealogy of Christ, that it might be clear and plain 
of what tribe and family the Messiah came, that he 
descended from the tribe of Judah, and from the 
kings of the house of David, as in this first book. 
They contain a history from Adam to the deliverance 
of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon. The 
first of this book reaches, according to Hottinger, to 
A. M. 2985, and the latter is a history of 472 years." 

2 Chron. " This and the proceeding were but one 
book originally, but were divided into two, because 
of the largeness of it, so this is only a continuation of 
the former history, that ends at the death of David; 
this begins with the reign of Solomon, goes through 
that, and all the kings of the house of David; of the 
kings of the house of Judah only, after the separa- 
tion of the ten tribes, quite down to the captivity of 
Judah in Babylon, and reaches to the deliverance of 
the Jews from thence by Cyrus, and contains a his- 
tory of four hundred and seventy-n ine years. It 



THK KINGDOM OF ISRAEL. 143 

treats not at all of the kings of Israel, after the sep- 
aration, only of the kings of Judah, through whom 
the line of the Messiah was drawn, and though it 
omits several things recorded of them in the book of 
kings, yet it gives abundance of ancedotes not to be 
met with there, which are of great use and advantage 
in history.'' 

Book of Ezra. "It is of use for the continuance of 
the sacred history, to point at the fulfilment of proph- 
ecies concerning the return of the Jews from cap- 
tivity, and the rebuilding of the temple; and to give 
an account of the state of the church in those times, 
the trouble and difficulties it met with, and what care 
was taken to keep the tribes and families distinct, 
that it might be known from whom the Messiah 
sprung; this book contains, according to the calcula- 
tion of Bishop Usher, from A. M. 3468 to 3538." 

The Book of Nehemiah "has always had a place in the 
canon of Scriptures, both with the Jews and Chris- 
tians, and is of use to show the fulfilment of the proph- 
ecies of Zecheriah, and especially of Dainel con- 
cerning the building of the walls of Jerusalem in 
troublesome times, to carry on the history of the 
Jews, and describe the state of the church in those 
times; what opposition was made to it, and what en- 
emies it had, and what must be expected when any 
work of God is set about; it is the last of the histor- 
ical books that was written, as is thought, and con- 
tains an history of the space of about twelve years, 
and from the ^Oth of Artaxerxes to the 32nd of his 
reign, see chap. I. 1; n, 1; xiii. 6., ? 



144 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

LOOKING FORWARD TO CHRIST. 

The Book of Esther. "This book is not only of use to 
the Jews, as it shows the origin and foundation of a 
feast of theirs, still kept up by them, the feast of 
Purim, and makes for the glory of their nation, and 
therefore it is no wonder it should be highly esteemed 
by them; but serves to show the singular providence 
of God in taking care of his people in adversity, in 
humbling the proud and exalting the lowly and in 
saving those who pray to him, and trust in him; it 
furnishes various instructions in the conduct of the 
several persons herein mentioned; it is a history of 
but ten or eleven years at most, from the third of 
Ahashuerus, to the twelfth of his reign, i. 3; in. 1." 

The Book of Job. "This book may be considered 
either as a history of the life of Job, in which an ac- 
count is given of him in his prosperity; of his afflic- 
tions, and how they came upon him; of a visit paid 
him by his friends, and of the discourses that passed 
between them, and of his restoration to greater afflu- 
ence than he enjoyed before; cr as a drama, or dia- 
logue consisting of divers parts, and in which various 
speakers are introduced, as God, Satan, Job, his wife, 
and his friends; or as a dispute, in which Job's three 
friends are the opponent, himself is the respondent, 
Elihu the moderator, God the umpire, who settled 
and determined the point in question. It contains 
many useful things in it, concenring the Divine 
Being and the perfections of his nature, his wisdom, 
power, justice, goodness, and sovereignty; concerning 
original sin, and the corruption of mankind; concern- 
ing redemption by Christ, and good works to be done 
by men; and concerning the iesuirection of the dead. 



LOOKING FORWARD TO CHRIST. 145 

and eternal life. Some think Jobe was a type of 
Christ in his afflictions and sufferings; in his pati- 
ence under them and deliverance ont of them; in his 
exaltation to a higher pitch of happiness and pros- 
perity, and in his intercession for his friends. He is, 
however, although in many things worthy to be imi- 
tated, yet in others he is to be blamed, and not fol- 
lowed. On the whole, this book, may be read with 
pleasure and profit." 

Psalms. "The subject-matter of this book is ex- 
ceeding great and excellent; many of the psalms re- 
spect the person, office and grace of Christ; his suf- 
ferings and death, resurrection, ascension, and ses- 
sion at the right hand of God; and are so exceedingly 
suitable to the gospel dispensation. The whole book 
is a rich mind of grace and evangelical truth, and a 
large fund of spiritual experience; and is abundantly 
•suited to every case, state and condition that the 
church of Christ, or particular believers, are in at any- 
time." 

§ Th3 Book o? Proverbs. "This book consists of five 
parts, first a preface or introduction, which takes up 
the first nine chapters; the second, the proverbs of 
Soloman put together by himself, Chap, x.— xxv; 
third, the proverbs of Solomon copied by the men of 
Hezekiah, Chap. xxv. — xxx; fourth, the words of 
Agur; fifth, the instructions of Solomon's mother 
Bath-sheba, Chap, Xxxi. 

Eccl. "In general scope of design it is intended to 
expose the vanity of all worldly enjoyments to show 
that a man's happiness does not consist in natural 
wisdom and knowledge, nor in worldly wealth, nor in 
civil honor, power and authority, nor in mere exter- 
nals of religion; but in the fear of God, and the wor- 
ship of him. It encourages men to a free use of the 

10 



146 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK, 

good things of life in a moderate way, with thank- 
fulness to God; to submit with cheerfulness to ad- 
verse dispensation of providence, to fear God and 
honor the king, to be dutiful to civil magistrates, and 
kind to the poor, to expect a future state, and an 
awful judgment, with many other useful things." 

The Song of Solomon. "The whole of this song is fig- 
urative end alegorical, expressing, in a variety of live- 
ly metaphors, the love, union and communion be- 
tween Christ and his church; setting forth different 
forms, cases and conditions of believers, in this life r 
so that they can be in no spiritual case or condition, 
whatever, but that there is something in this song 
suitable to them; and which shows much to recom- 
mend it, and shows the excellency of it, and that it 
justly bears the title it claims, Song of So7igs." 

The Book of the Prophet Isaiah. "This contains some 
things historical, but chiefly prophetical, of which some 
relate to the punishment of the Jews, and other na- 
tions, but for the most part are evangelical, and concern 
the kingdom and grace of Christ; of which some are 
delivered out more clearly and perspicuously, and 
others more obscurely, under the type of the deliver- 
ance of the Jews from Babylonish captivity." 

The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah. "This contains several 
discourses delivered to the people of the Jews, charg- 
ing them with many sins they were guilty of; exhort- 
ing them to repentance: threatening them with the 
destruction of their city and temple, and with cap- 
tivity in Babylon, and confronting the saints, not on- 
ly with a promise of deliverance from thence, but of 
spiritual redemption by the Messiah. And it has in 
it several predictions of judgments upon other na- 
tions; and gives a particular account of the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem, and of the carrying of the Jews 



L0OL1NG FORWARD TO CHRIST. 147 

captives into Babylon; which he lived to see, as the 
fulfilment of his prophecies." 

The Lamentations of Jeremiah/ 'This appears plainly to be 
written after the destruction of the city and temple, 
and the sad desolation made in the land of Judah, be- 
cause of the sins of the priest and people, and the de- 
sign of it is to lament these things, and bring them to 
repentance, and humiliation for their sins, and to 
give some comfortable hope that God will be merciful 
to them, and restore them again to their former priv- 
ileges, for which the prophecies prays." 

The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, "This contains in general 
visions the prophet saw; several threatenings against 
the people of the Jews, and prophecies against other 
nations, and an abundance of comfortable promises 
of the Messiah, and of blessings of grace by him, and 
of the state and condition of the gospel church, and 
the worship of it." 

The Book of Daniel, "Written by him, it is partly his- 
torical; relating facts in which he was concerned; 
and partly prophetical, of things that should happen 
from this time to the end of the world, and especial- 
ly of the Messiah and his kingdom, This great man 
as he was, both in nature and grace, in religion and 
politics, lived throughout the captivity, but does not 
seem to have returned into Judea; but continued in 
the courts of the kings of the Medes and Persians, to 
take care of his people, the Jews. When he died is 
not certain." 

Hosea. " Hosea chiefly prophesied against the ten 
tribes of Israel; reproved them for their sins; exhor- 
ted them to repentance; threatened them with de- 
struction in case of impenitence, and comforted the 
truly godly with promises of the Messiah, and th^ 
happy state of the church in the latter day." 



J4S FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK, 

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST. 

"In the fourth chapter of his epistie to the Gala- 
tians,the apostle Paul discourses upon the abrogation 
of the ceremonial law, under which the Old Testa- 
ment saints were, being as children, under tutors. 
Here he makes use of a similitude of an heir, whilst 
under bondage being under tutors and governors, un- 
til the time fixed by the parent's will, verses 1, 2, an 
accommodation of which simile is in verse 3, by 
which the Jews under the former dispensation are 
repsented as children, and as in a state of bondage to 
the ceremonial law, from which there is a deliver- 
ance by Christ at the appointed time of the Father, by 
whom he was sent for that purpose; the act of send- 
ing him is ascribed to God the Father, the person 
sent is ascribed as the Son of God; the time when, as 
the fulness of time/' 

Gal. IV. 4. But when the fulness of the time was 
come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, 
made under the law. 

"The time agreed and fixed upon between God 
and his Son from all eternity, in the council and cov- 
enant of peace, when the Son of God should assume 
human nature, which time was diligently searched 
into by the prophets, was revealed unto them., and 
predicted by them, that it should be before the civil 
government ceased from Judah, and before the des- 
truction of the second temple, particularly by Daniel 7 
in his prophecy of the seventy weeks, towards and 
about the close of which there was a general expecta- 
tion among the Jews of the Messiah's coming, and 
was the fulness of the time here referred to and is 
sometimes called the dispensation of the fulness of 

10a 



THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST. 1 49 

time, the end of the Mosaic dispensation and Jewish 
church-state, the last days of that state, and the end 
of the Jewish world, as to their ecclesiastical and 
civil polity. God sent forth his Son; personally and, 
relatively considered, is here meant, God the Father 
sent his Son; not by creation, as angels, Adam and 
all men are sons of God; nor by adoption, as saints 
are; nor b} r office as magistrates be; nor on account 
of his incarnation or resurrection from the dead, for 
he was the Son of God before either; but by divine 
generation, being the only begotten of the Father, of 
his divine nature and essence, equal to him, and one 
with him; and was sent by him; not without his con- 
sent or agreement, but with both, he readily and 
heartly agreeing to it, nor does it imply any local mo- 
tion or change of place, but only designs the taking 
upon him human nature; nor does it suppose any 
superiority and inferiority, for though Christ as 
man, and in his official capacity as Mediator, is in- 
ferior to the Father, yet not as to his divine nature, 
or as the Son of God; but it suggests that he existed 
before he was sent, and that as a person, as a distinct 
person from the Father, otherwise he could not with 
propriety be said to be sent by him; also there was an 
entire harmony and agreement in the matter between 
them. The Father agrees to send his Son, and the 
Son agrees to be sent; and take upon him the office of 
Mediator, to take upon him self human nature, in or- 
der to obtain eternal redemption; his mission was 
from the Father, as Mediator: made of a women; not 
created as Adam was; nor begotten by man, as men 
commonly are, but made, which word the Holy Ghost 
chooses, to express the mighty power of God, in his 
mysterious incarnation, wonderful conception and 
birth. Made of a woman; made and formed in her, 
of her flesh and blood of which he took part; thus di~ 



150 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK, 

recting the low estate and great humiliation of Christ, 
and shows that as sin came into the world by the 
woman, the Saviour from sin came also the same 
way: made under the law, under the civil and judi- 
cial law as a jew, to which he was subject, paying 
tribute to the collector of it; which shows he sprung 
from that nation to whom he was promised; and that 
he came before the civil government of that people 
was at an end. As a son of Abraham, he was cir- 
cumcised on the eight day, according to the ceremo- 
nial law, kept the feast of the tabernacles, passovers, 
&c, which was proper, since he was the principal of 
it, in whom it centers, and for whose sake it was 
made, that he might completely fulfil it, and by 
so doing put an end to it; hence he was made under 
the moral law, both as man and the Surety of his peo- 
ple, and was subject to all the precepts of it, and bore 
the penalties of it, death, in their room and stead, and 
thereby fulfilled it, and delivered them from its 
curse and comdemnation/' 

Isiah spoke of him in prophetic language, say- 
ing, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is 
given, and the government shall be upon his 
shoulders; his name shall be called, Wonderful Coun- 
selor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, the 
Prince of Peace. 

John introduces his gospel by saying, In the be- 
ginning was the Word, and the Word was with God; 
and the Word was God; the same was in the begin- 
ning with God. All things were made by Him; and 
without him was not anything made that was made. 
In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness 
comprehended it not, John I. 1-5, 

Matthew in the first chapter of his gospel gives 
the generations of Jesus Christ the son of David, the 



THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST. 151 

son of Abraham; which he concludes by saying: So 
all the genearations from Abram to David are four- 
teen generations; and from David to the car- 
rying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; 
and from the carrying away into Babylon unto 
Christ are fourteen generations, Matt. I. 17. 

The birth of the Son of God is related by Luke 
more particularly, than by the other evangelists. I 
therefore quote from him. 

Luke 1.26=33. And in the sixth month the angel Ga- 
briel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, nam- 
ed Nazareth, to a virgin espoused p< to a man whose 
name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the 
virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in 
unto her and said, Hail thou that are highly favored, 
the Lord is with thee;blessed art thou among women. 
And when she saw him, she was troubled at his say- 
ing, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation 
this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, 
Mary; for thou hast found favor with God. And be- 
hold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring- 
forth a son. and shall call his name Jesus. He shall 
be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; 
and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of 
his father David. And he shall reign over the house 
of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be 
no end. (Read the residue of this chapter.) 

Luke II. 1=14. And it came to pass in those days, 
that there went out a decree from Csesar Augustus 
that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing 
was first made when Cyrenius was governor ofSyria.) 
And all went to be taxed, everyone into his own 
city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of 
the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of 
David, which is called Bethlehem (because he was of 



152 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

the lineage of David), to be taxed, with Mary his 
espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, 
that, while they were there the days were accom- 
plished that she should be delivered. And she 
brought forth her first born son, and wrapped him in 
swaddling clothes and laid him in a mang- 
er because there was no room for him in the 
inn. And there were in the same country shepherds, 
abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock 
by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon 
them and the glory of the Lord shone round about 
the:n; and they were sore afraid: and the angel said 
unto them, Fear not; for, behold, I bring yeu good 
tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a 
Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be 
a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in 
swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And sudden- 
there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly 
host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the 
highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. 
Upon which message the shepherds went to Bethle- 
hem, and found all true the angels told them. See 
verse 15. 

"On the eighth day after his birth, they brought 
the child into the temple, in obedience to the law, to 
have him circumcised; when Simeon beheld him, and 
recognized him as the promised One, he should see 
before death, took him in his arms and blessed him 
and delivered his prophecy concerning him. And 
Anna a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, coming 
in at that instant gave thanks to the Lord and spake 
of him to all of them that looked for redemption in 
Jerusalem.' 7 

There is but little said of our Lord's life from 
the time he was 12 vears old until he was 30 or 33 



THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST. 153 

years old. Then begins the history of his ministry. 

Luke III. 1=9. Now in the fifteenth year of the 
reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, being gov- 
ernor of Judea, and Herod tetrarch of Galilee, and his 
brothers Pailip tetrarch of Ttursex and of the region of 
Trachonitis,and Lycanias the tetrarh of Abilene, An- 
nas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of 
God came untoJohn the son of Zacharias in the wilder- 
ness. And he came into all the country about Jordan, 
preaching the baptism of repentance for the remis- 
sion of sins. As it is written in the book of the words 
of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one cry- 
ing in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the 
Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be 
fillled, and every mountain and hill be brought low; 
and the crooked shall be made straight and the 
rough ways shall be made Smooth; and all 
flesh shall see the salvation of God. 
Then said he to the multitudes that came forth 
to be baptised of him, O generation of vipers, who 
hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 
Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and 
begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abra- 
ham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is 
able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 
And now also the axo is laid unto the root of the trees: 
every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good 
fruit, is hewn down and cast into the fire. (The tree 
is judged by its fruit.) 

Lnke HI. 10. And the people ask him, sayin g, 
What shall we do then? 

Luke III. 16=17. J©hn answered saying unto them all, 
I indeed baptize you with water, but one mightier 
than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not 
worthy to unloose;he shall baptize you with the Holy 



154 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

Ghost and with fire. Whose fan is in his hand, and 
ke will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather 
the wheat into his garner, but the chaff he will burn 
with fire unquenchable. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST. 

Matt. HI. U.Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jor- 
dan unto John to be baptized of him. 

"That is, when John had for some time preached 
the doctrine of repentance, and administered the or- 
dinance of baptism; for which time must be allowed, 
since he went into all the country about Jordan, and 
preached unto them, and baptised such large numbers; 
very probably it might be six months from his first 
entrance on his ministry; since there was difference 
in their ages, and so might be in their baptism and 
preaching. Now when John had given notice of the 
Messiah's coming and so had prepared his way; had 
declared the excellency of his person, the nature of 
his work, and had raised in the people an expectation 
©f him; then cometh Jesus from Galilee; from Naze- 
reth of Galilee, Mark i. 9; where he had lived for 
many years, in great obscurity, in all obedience to 
God and in subjection to his parents. From hence 
he came to Jordan to John, who was baptizing there; 
which shows the great humility of Christ, who came 
to John, and does not send for him, though John was 
his servant, and he was his Lord and master; and al- 
so his cheerful and voluntary subjection to the ordi- 



THU BAPTISM OF CHRIST. 155 

nance of b ipti^m, since he himself, of his own accord, 
took that long and tedious journey. Nazereth is 
said to be three days journey from Jordan. The end 
and design of his coming, was to be baptized of John. 
It may reasonably be inquired what should be 
Christ's view in desiring to be baptized; it could not 
be to take away original or actual sin, since he had 
neither; nor has baptism any such efficacy to do this, 
in those who have either or both; but it was to show 
his approbation of John's baptism, and to bear testi- 
mony of it, that it was from heaven;and that he him- 
self might receive a testimony both from heaven and 
from John that he was the son of God, and the irue 
Messiah, before entering upon his public ministry, in 
to which he was in some measure initiated and in- 
stalled hereby; moreover to set an example to his 
followers, and thereby engage their attention and 
subjection to this ordinance, and to fulfil all right- 
eousness." 

Matt. HI. 14. But John forbade him, saying, 
I have need of being baptized of thee, and comest 
thou to me? 

"It appears from hence, that John knew Christ 
before he baptized him, and before he saw the spirit 
descending, and abiding upon him, John I. 33;where- 
fore tljat was not a signal, whereby he should first 
know him, but whereby his knowledge of him should 
be confirmed; which knowledge of him he had, not 
through his kindred to him, or by conversation he 
had with him before, but by immediate divine reve- 
lation; upon which account he forbade him, saying, 
I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to 
me? Not with water baptism, which Christ never 
administered; but with baptism of Spirit, which was 
his peculiar office. Hence we learn that though 



1515 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

John was so good a man, was filled with the Holy 
Ghost from his mother's womb, had such large 
measures of grace, and such an exemplary lit'e; yet 
he was far from thinking he was perfect and right- 
ous in himself, but stood in need of Christ, an I more 
grace from him. He seems surprised that Christ 
should come to him." 

Matt. III. 15. And Jesus answering, said unto him, 
Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to ful- 
fil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. 

"It became John to administer the ordinance of 
baptism to Christ, as he was his forerunner, and the 
only administrator of it, and that he might fulfil the 
ministry which he had received, and as it became 
Christ to fulfil all righteousness, moral and ceremo- 
nial, and baptism being a part of his Father's will, 
which he came to do, it became him to fulfil this al- 
so. Since it became Christ, it cannot be unbecoming 
to submit to this ordinance; and since he looked upon 
it as a part of righteousness to be fulfilled by him, it 
ought to be attended to by all who would be account- 
ed followers of him. John being overcome by the 
force of this argument, suffered him, to be baptized 
in water by him, as he had requested, and adminis- 
tered it to him." 

Matt. III. 16. And Jesus when he was baptized, 
went up straightway out of the water; and lo! the 
heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit 
of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him. 

"Christ when he was baptized by John in the 
river Jordan, the place where he was baptizing, went 
up straightway out of the water. One would be at 
a loss at first sight for the reason why the evangelist 
should relate this circumstance, for after the ordi- 
nance was administered, why should he stay in the 



THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST. 157 

water? What should he do there? Everyone would 
naturally conclude, without, the mention of such a 
circumstance, that as soon as his baptism was over, 
he would come out of the water. We learn from it, 
that since he came up out of the water, he must have 
first gone down in it; must have been into it, and 
baptized in it; a circumstance in favor of baptism by 
immersion; for that Christ should go down into the 
rive Jordan, more or less deep, in order that John 
should baptize him by sprinkling or pouring seems 
too rediculous to be credited by sensible people. But 
the chief view of the evangelist in relating this 
circumstance, is what follows: As soon as Christ was 
baptised, and before he had well got cut of the water, 
the heavens were opened to him; the airy heaven 
was really opened to him, parted, rent, or cloven 
asunder, as Mark i. 10; which made way for the visv- 
ible descent of the Holy Ghost, in a bodily shape. A 
difficulty arises here, whether the words to him, refer 
to Christ or to John; no doubt but that the opening 
of the heavens was seen by them both; but John is 
particularly designed, as the vision was on his ac- 
count, and for his sake, and to him the following 
words belong; and he, that is John, saw the Spirit of 
God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him; 
for this is what was promised to John, as a sign, 
which should confirm his faith in Jesus, as the true 
Messiah, and which he himself says he saw, and on 
which he founded the record and testimony he bore 
to Christ as the son of God;— see John i. 32-34. The 
Spirit of God, here said to descend and light on 
Christ, is the same, which in the first creation, moved 
upon the face of the waters, and now comes down on 
Christ, just as he was coming out of the waters of 
the Jordan, where he had been baptised. The de- 
scent was in a bodily shape, Luke in. 32; an emblem 



158 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

of the Spirit of God, who descended, and the fruits 
thereof, such as simplicity, meekness, love, &c, and 
the dove like innocence, humility, and affection of 
Christ, on whom he lighted." 

Matt. III. 17. And lo! a voice from heaven, saying 
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 

"At the same time the heavens were opened, and 
the Spirit of God descended as a dove, and lighted on 
Christ, and while it abode upon him, an extraordi- 
nary voice was heard; hence the note of attention 
and admiration, lo, is prefixed unto it, as before, to 
the opening of the heavens; denoting something of 
great importance. This voice from heaven, was 
formed in articulate sounds, for the sake of John; 
and according to the other evangelists, was directed 
to Christ, Mark, I. 11; Luke, in. 22, expressing the 
following words: this is my beloved Son. This per- 
son who had been baptised in water, on whom the 
Holy Spirit now rested, is no other than the Son of 
God in human nature; which he took on himself, in 
order to be obedient to this, and the whole of his 
Father's will. He is the natural, essential and only 
begotten Son of God. Christ always was and ever 
will be considered, both in person as the Son of God 
and in his office as Mediator, the object of his love 
and delight; whereupon he adds; in whom I am well 
pleased. It would be almost unpardonable, not to take 
notice of the Trinity, since a voice was heard from 
the Father in heaven, bearing witness to the Son in 
human nature on earth, on whom the Spirit had de- 
scended and now abode. The ancients looked on 
this as so clear and full a proof of this truth, that 
they were want to say: 'Go to the Jordan, and there 
leave the doctrine of the Trinity.' Add to all this, 
that since this declaration was immediately upon 



THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. 151 

the baptism of Christ, it shows that his Father high- 
ly approved of. and was well pleased with his admis- 
sion to that ordinance." 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. 

Matt. IV. I. Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit in- 
to the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil. 

"The same Spirit of God which had descended 
and lighted upon him in Jordan, now led him into 
the wilderness to be tempted of the devil; Satan the 
prince of devils, the enemy of mankind; whose prin- 
cipal business is to tempt; Christ was brought here 
to be tempted by him, that he might be tried before 
he entered on his public work, that he might be in 
all things like unto his bretheren, that he might have 
a heart as man, as well as power as God, to succor 
them who are tempted, and that Satan, whose works 
he came to destroy, might know his power, and in a 
short time, see the ruin of his kingdom by him. 
The time when this was done was then; when Jesus 
had been baptized by John, when the Holy Ghost de- 
cended on him, when he had such testiomony from 
the Father of his relation to him, affection for him, 
and delight in him; then he was led immediately, in- 
to the wilderness to be tempted by and to combat 
with Satan, So it often is, that after communion 
with God in his ordinances, after large discoveries of 
his love and interest in us, follow sore temptations, 



160 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

trials and exercises. There is a very great resem- 
blance and confornity between Christ and his people 
in these things." 

Matt. IV 2. And when he had fasted forty days 
and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 

"As Moses did when he was about to deliver the 
law to the Israelites, Ex. xxxiv. 28, and as Elijah 
did, when he bore his testiomony for the Lord of host, 
1 King, xtx. 8, so did Christ, when he wa* about to 
publish the Gospel of his grace, and bear witness to 
the truth. Forty night t as well as days, are men- 
tioned, making the whole day of twenty-four hours. 
During the whole of which time he was not attacked 
with hunger, but at the expiration of the forty days, 
he ivas an hungred; Luke iv. 2; both expressive of the 
reality of his human nature, which, supported so long- 
without food, and without hunger, at length became 
an hungred; thus giving Satan the very advanta- 
geous opportunity of attacking him in the manner he 
did." 

Matt. IV. 3. When the tempter came to him, he 
said, If thou be the Son of God command that these 
stones be made bread. 

"By the tempter is meant the devil, see 1 Thess. 
in. v, because it is his principal work and business, 
in which he employs himself, to tempt men to sin, 
and either to deny or call in question the being of 
God, arraign his perfections, murmur at his provi- 
dences and disbelieve his promises. When he is here 
said to come to Christ, we are not to understand that 
he then first began to tempt him, for the other evan- 
gelists expressly say, that he was tempted of him for- 
ty days, Mark i. 13; Luke iv. 2, but he now appears 
openly, and in visible shape; seeing all his efforts and 
temptations unsuccesful, and observing him to be 



THE "TEMPTATION OE CHRIST, 161 

liungred, he puts on a visible form and with an ar- 
ticulate, audible voice, he said if thou be the Son of 
-God-, either doubting his divine Sonship, calling it in 
question, and putting him upon doing so too; where- 
fore it is no wonder that the children of God should 
be assauted with the like temptations, or else argu- 
ing from it, if, or seeing thou art the Son of God; for 
he must know tbat he was, by the voice which came 
from heaven, and declared it, certain it is, that the 
devils knew, and were obliged to confess that Jesus 
was the Son of God, Luke iv. 41; a divine person, one 
possessed of almighty power; and therefore as a proof 
and demonstration of it, he urges him to command 
that these stones be made bread, pointing at some 
that laid hard by; but say the word and it will be 
done. He did not doubt his ability to do it, but 
wanted it done at his motion, and for his gratifica- 
tion, wanting him to be obedient to him; doubtless 
hoping to succeed because Christ was hungry; and 
because he had carried his point with our first par- 
ents, by tempting them to eat the forbidden fruit." 

Matt. VI. 4. But he answered and said, It is writ- 
ten, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every 
word that proceedith out of the mouth of God. See 
Deut. viii. 3. 

"The meaning of this Scripture is that 
God, in satisfying man's hunger, and in support- 
ing and preserving his life, is not tied to bread only, 
but can do what ever he pleases to answer these ends 
as by raining manna from heaven, which is men- 
tioned in the passage cited; therefore there was no 
occasion to change the nature of things, by turning 
stones into bread. Our Lord hereby expresses his 
confidence in God's ability, not only to support him 
in a wilderness, when destitute of supply, but that he 



162 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK, 

would do it. Christ in this and pome following situations 
bears a testimony to, and establishes the authority 
of the sacred writings, and though he was full of the 
Holy Ghost, makes them the rule of his conduct; 
which ought to be observed against those, who un- 
der pretence of the Spirit, deny the Scriptures to I e 
the only rule of faith and practice; and at the same 
time points out to us the safest and best method of 
opposing Satan's temptations; namely, by applying 
to, and making use of the word of God." 

Matt. IV. 5. Then the devil taketh him up into the 
holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the tem- 
ple. 

''Not in a visionary way, but really and truly r 
Satan by divine permission, and with the consent of 
Christ, which shows his great humiliation and con- 
descension, and power over his body, to move it from 
place to place; in such like manner as the Spirit 
caught up Philip, Acts vni. 39, and carried him into 
the holy city. Luke says, he brought him to Jerusa- 
lem, Matt. iv. 9, called so because of the presence, 
worship and service of God, which had been in it y 
though then in a great measure gone. Satan fre- 
quents all sorts of places; men are nowhere free 
from his tempations; Christ himself was not in the 
Holy City nor in the Holy Temple; hither he brought 
him, and setteth him upon a pinnacle or wing of the 
temple. In this place the Jews set James, the broth- 
er of Christ, and from it cast him down headlong; 
this was the summit of the top of it, was one hun- 
dred and twenty cubits high. Satan's purpose in set- 
ting him here appears in the next verse." 

Matt. IV. 6. And said unto him, If thou be the Son 
of God. cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall 
give his angels charge concerning thee; and in their 



THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. 163 

Brands they shall bear the up, lest at any time thou 
-dash thy foot against a stone. 

"Headdresses, after the same manner as before; 
if, or seeing, thou art the Son of God; show thyself to 
to be so; give proof of thy Sonship, before all the 
priest which are in and about the temple, and. before 
■all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, cast thyself clown, 
from the pinnacle of the temple; for since thou art the 
Son of God; no hurt will come to thee, and it will be 
fall proof to all people that_ thou art the Son 
of God; for hither Satan had brought him hop- 
ing to get an advantage over him publicly. Let it be 
observed, that Satan did not offer to cast him down 
himself, his permission only being to tempt; we may 
add, that when he seeks the lives of men, he does not 
attempt to destroy them himself, but always puts 
them upon doing it. Observing the use Christ made 
of the Scriptures, he cites Scripture too, to encourage 
him to this action; the passage cited is Psa, xc. 11, 
12; but he wilfully and wickedly omited the words: 
to keep thee in all thy ways, which he saw was con- 
trary to all his purpose and designs, also in urging 
this passage which only regards godly persons, in 
the way of their duty, to countenance actions which 
are out of the way of man's calling, or .which he is 
not called unto, and which are contrary to religion, 
and tempting God. Satan before tempted Christ to 
distrust the providence of God, and now he attempts 
to presume upon it; in like manner he deals with men 
when he argues from the doctrine of predestination 
and providence, the disuse of obedience to God's com- 
mandments which are for their good in this life, and 
that to come, and if he tempted the Son of God to 
destroy himself, no wonder that the saints should 
some times be harassed with this temptation. ,, 



164 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

Matt, IV. 7. Jesus answered him, It is written a- 
gain, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 

"Christ takes no nutice of the false and wrong- 
citation of Scripture made by the devil, nor of any 
misapplication of it; but mildly replies, by opposing 
another passage of Scripture to him, Deut vi. 16, ye 
shall not tempt the Lord your God, thereby showing 
that he had produced Scriptures to a very wrong pur- 
pose, as the Scripture cannot contradict itself." 

Matt. IV. 8. Again, the devil taketh him up into an 
exceedingly high mountain, and shewith him all the 
kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. 

''This cculd not be a real sight, for there is no 
mountain in the world from whence one kingdom can 
be beheld, much less all the kingdoms of the world, 
much less the riches, pomp and glory of them; but 
this was a fictitious representation of them, which Sat- 
an was permitted tomake,tocover which he took Christ 
into a high mountain; where he proposed an object 
externally to his s^ght and internally to his imagi- 
nation, which represented, in appearance, the whole 
world, and all its glory. Satan thought to impose 
on Christ in this way. Luke says, it was done in a 
moment of time. This is not more surprising than 
his vanity, pride and and imprudence in what fol- 
lows." 

Matt, IV. 9. And saith unto him, All these things 
will I give thee if thou will fall down and worship me 

"This is -tdpcS fully aai strongly expressed by the 
Evangelist Luke, iv. 6, 7; And the devil said unto 
him, All this poiver will I give thee and the glory of 
them, for that is delivered unto me; and to ivhomso* 
ever I ivill give it, if thou, therefore, ivilt worship me, 
all shall be thine. "In which words he sets up him- 
self to be the god of this world, and sovereign dis- 

lla 



THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST, 165 

poser of it. pretends it was delivered to him by the 
true God, who had left it to his disposal; and that he 
could invest Christ with the power and government 
of it, and put him in possession of its glory. Never 
was such monstrous arrogancy uttered as this; this 
poor proud wretched creature, has not the disposal at 
his pleasure of one single thing. He could not touch 
Job's person, nor his substance without divine per- 
mission, nor enter into a herd of swine, without 
Christ's leave; yet had the impudence to offer the 
whole world as if he had the disposal of it. The devil 
is not conteut to be worshipped by men, but seeks ad- 
oration from the Son of God." 

Matt. IV. 10. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee 
hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship 
the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 

Matt. IV. 11. Then the devil leaveth him, and be- 
hold, angels came and ministered unto him. 

"Having tempted him with all sorts of tempta- 
tions and tried him every way to no purpose; having 
gone through the whole scheme and course of temp- 
tations, he had devised, without success; and having 
orders from Christ to depart, which he was oblige to 
obey, leaves until the time should come w T hen he 
would be presented to bruise his heel, or bring him to 
the dust of death, see John, xiv. 30; Luke xxn. 53; 
and when he was gone, better company came in his 
room: and behold, angels came and ministered unto 
him. They came to him in visible, human form; af- 
ter Satan was foiled, and was gone; that it might 
appear that Christ alone had got the victory over 
him, without any help or assistance from them. 
When they were come they ministered unto him, 
that is, they brought him food of their own prepairing 
and dressing as they did to Elijah, 1 Kings xix. 5, 6; 



^66" FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

7, 8, to satisfy his human nature, and refresh his an- 
imal spirits, which had undergone great fatigue du- 
ring the time he fasted and was tempted. So the- 
angels are ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation 
Wth in a temporal and spiritual sense, Heb.. i, 14.. 



CHAPTER XVIL 

CHKIST 7 S MINISTRY, 



Luke IV. 14. And Jesus returned in the power of 
the Spirit into Galilee, and there went out a fame of 
him, throughout all the region around about. 

"Of which spirit he was full, and by which he 
was led into the wilderness, and had combated with 
Satan, and got the victory over him; and by virture 
of which he entered on his public ministry, wrought 
miracles and taught with authority. He returned 
unto Galilee where he had been brought up, and from 
whence he came to John at Jordan, by the wonderful 
influence of the Holy Spirit which was in him, to the 
place where he was to begin his ministry, and work 
his miracles, and so fulfil a prophecy of him, Isa. ix. 
1, 2; see Matt. iv. 12-16; and there went out a fame 
of him, throughout all the region around about', 
through all Galilee, Syria, Decapolis and Jordan, see 
Matt. iv. 23-25. The report of his doctrines and mi- 
riacles Was spread far and near, and on account of 
them, he became the subject of common talk of the 
people everywhere." 



CHRIST'S MINISTRY. 16? 

Luke IV. 15. And he taught in their syanogoges, 
being glorified of all. 

"In the place of public worship used by the Gali- 
leans, where they met on the Sabbath days and week 
days to pray and hear the Scriptures expounded. 
Christ engaging here as public teacher was the rea- 
son of his fame being spread around the country: be- 
ing glorified of all, that heard him; they were aston- 
ished at his doctrine; they wondered at his gracious 
words; they praised him as a preacher, and glorified 
him and God for him, because of the mighty works 
which were done by him." 

Luke IV. 16. And he came to Nazareth, where he 
had been brought up, and, as his custom was, he went 
into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up 
for to read. 

"After he bad gone through all Galilee, and had 
acquired great credit and reputation by his ministry 
and miracles, he came to the place where he was 
brought up, and was known to the inhabitants; and 
therefore it was proper that he should first exercise 
his ministry, and obtain reputation in other places 
which would prepare him a reputation among his 
townsmen, who otherwise in all likelihood would 
have treated him with disrespect and contempt: and 
as his custom was, he went into he synagogue on the 
Sabbath day. This was either his custom from youth 
when he dwelt at Nazareth, while a private person, 
and before he engaged in public service, whither he 
used to repair as an inhabitant of the city, and a 
member of the congregation, to attend and join in 
worship as he now did ; or it refers to his custom since 
he became a public preacher, who at Capernaum, or 
any other place in Galilee when there was a syna- 
gogue, used to frequent it, whether on the Sabbath 



168 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

or any other day, as he did here: and stood up for to 
read; by rising and standing up signified his inclina- 
tion to reid a portion of Scripture, if a book were de- 
livered to him, It may be observed, that common 
Israelites, as well as priest and Levites, were allowed 
to read the Scripture publicly ;and every sabbath day 
seven persons read, a priest, a Levite and five Israel- 
ites; the order was this: the priest read first, and af- 
ter him the Levite, and it is said to be a known cus- 
tom to this day that even an unlearned priest may 
read before the wisest man in IrsaeL Now Chrisi y 
on account of his great fame for his wisdom and 
mighty works, was admitted to this public service, 
and though he was not a Levite, and known by the 
inhabitants of the place to have been brought up to a 
trade. ,r 

Luke IV. 17. And there was delivered unto him 
the book of the prophet Esaias; and when he had 
opened the book, he found the place where it is writ- 
ten, 

"That part of the sacred volume, which was de- 
livered unto Jesus at that time, ivas the book of the 
prophet Esaias; it is likely, that the lesson for that 
day was to be read out of the prophecy of Isaiah; and 
it is probable that this was the single book of Isaiah,, 
or that prophecy, rolled up by itself in one volume, 
that was delivered to Christ; as the law was divided 
into five parts, each fifth part was sometimes in a 
book or volume by itself; hence, a fifth part of the 
law is by the Jews interpreted, a book of the law, in 
which there is but one fifth part, so might the proph- 
ets be in separate and distinct parts. And when he 
had opened the book: or unrolled it, for books former- 
ly were written on rolls of paper or parchment; and 
in this form is the law with the Jews in their svna- 



CHRIST'S MINISTRY. 169 

gn^ues to this cUy. He unrolled it until he came 
to the place where he intends to read, and found the 
place where it is written: as expressed in the follow- 
ing verse, which is to be seen in Isa. lvi. 1, 2: which 
was either the lesson of the day, or what Christ 
particularly sought for, or was providentially direct- 
ed to, pertinent to himself and proper to be read at that 
time; for it was not by chance that he lit upon this 
place and read it, but was according to his purpose 
and with design. Before the reading of the prophets, 
a blessing used tu be said, which was in this form; 
'Blessed art thou, O, Lord our God, the King of the 
whole world, who hath chosen the good prophets, and 
art well pleased with their words, which are said in 
truth; blessed art thou O, Lord, who hath chosen the 
law, Moses thy servant, and Israel his people and the 
prophets of truth and righteousness.' Whether this 
was said by Christ is not certain; however, he read 
the following passage." 

Luke IV. 18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, be- 
cause he hath annointed me to preach the gospel to 
the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, 
to preach deliverance to the captives, and the recov- 
ering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that 
are bruised. 

"By whom is meant the third person in the Trini- 
ty; so called to distinguish him from the other spirits; 
and who gave to Christ as man, without measure, 
whereby he was qualified for his great work; and in- 
tends the Spirit of Jehovah with all his gifts and 
grace, who was and abode on Christ, as a Spirit of 
wisdom and understanding, of counsel, and of might, 
of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. He was 
upon him and in him, the first moment of his concep- 
tion, which was by his power; and he visibly de- 
scended on him at his baptism. The phrase denotes 



170 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

permanency and continuance of him, and with him. 
Because he hath annointed me;£or it was wiih ueHoly 
Ghost he was anointed, to be a King an i Priest, an I 
so likewise to be a Prophet; hence he has r ie nam 
Messiah, which signifies annointed. This untion 
he had, in order to preach the gospel to the poor; in 
Isaiah it is the meek, which designs the same per- 
sons and means such as are poor in spirit, and are 
sensible of their spiritual poverty, have low and hum- 
ble thoughts of themselves, of their own righteous- 
ness and look to Christ for durable riches, and true 
righteousness, and frankly acknowledge all they 
have and are is owing to the grace of God; and gen- 
erally speaking, they are the poor of this world, and 
have tut a small amount of natural wisdom and 
knowledge; to them the gospel, or glad tidings of the 
love, grace and mercy of God, in Christ, of peace, 
pardon, righteousness, life and salvation by Christ, 
was preached by him; and that in so clear a manner 
and with such power and authority as it never was 
before or since; and for this purpose was he annointed 
with the oil of gladness, and above his fellows: He 
hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted; whose hearts 
are broken, male contrite by the Holy Spirit, an 1 
humble under a deep sense of sin, and mourn on ac- 
count thereof and are ready to perish: for atvounded 
spirit who can bear. Now Christ was sent to heal 
such persons by his own stripes, by binding up their 
wounds, by the application of his own blood to them, 
which is a soverign balm for every wound; by mak- 
ing manifest his pardoning grace to their souls and 
opening and applying the comfortable promises of 
his gospel by his spirit to them; to preach deliverance 
to the captives; who are captive of sin, Satan and the 
law; from which there is no deliverance, only by him, 
who saves his people from their sins, and redeems 



CHRIST'S MINISTRY. 171 

them from the law, and leads captivity captive: and 
the recovering of sight to the 6/?'wd;which in the proph- 
ets is, and the opening of the prisons to them that are 
bruised; now because persons in prisons are in dark- 
ness, and see no light, therefore they are represented 
as blind; both are the case of sinners, they are in the 
prison of sin and of the law, are blind, ignorant and in- 
sensible of their state, until Christ opens their eyes 
and sets them free; opens their eyes and gives them 
spiritual sight; when he says to the prioners, Go 
forth, and to them that are in darkness, Shotv your- 
selves, Isa. xlix. 9." 

Luke IV. 19. To preach the acceptable year of the 
Lord. 

"The time which he willed and fixed for the re- 
demption of his people, and in which he showed his 
good will and pleasure unto sinful men, in the gift of 
his son to them, and for them; which was a time ac- 
ceptable to the Lord. The sufferings of Christ were 
according to his will; his sacrifice was a sweet smell- 
ing savor to him; his righteousness was well pleasing 
to him, and the satisfaction and atonement for sin, 
he made, was a complete one; all Christ did and suf- 
fered was grateful to God, because his perfections 
were glorified, his people saved." 

Luke IV. 20.And he closed the book, and he gave 
it again to the minister, and sat down. And the 
eyes of all them that were in the synagogue fastened 
on him. 

Luke IV. 21. And he began to say unto them, This 
day is the Scripture fulfiled in your ears. 

Luke IV. 22. And all bare him witness, wondering 
at the gracious words which proceeded out of his 
mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? 



172 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

Luke IV. 23. And he said unto them. Ye will sure- 
ly say unto me this proverb, Physician heal thy self. 
Whatsoever ye have heard done iu Capernaum, do 
also here in thy country. 

Luke IV. 24. And he said, verily I say unto you, 
No prophet is accepted in his own country. 

Luke IV. 25. But I tell you of a truth, Mauy wid- 
ows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the 
heavens were shut up three years and six months, 
when great famine was throughout all the Ian I. 

Luke IV. 26. But unto none of them was Elias 
sent, save unto Sarepta, a city in Sidon, unto a wo- 
man that was a widow. 

Leke IV. 27. And many lepers were in Israel in the 
times of Eliseus the prophet, and none of them was 
cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. 

Luke IV. 28. And all they in the synagogue, when 
they heard these things were filled with wrath. 

"The ruler and minister, and the whole multi- 
tude of common people that were met together for 
worship, and who before were amazed at his elo- 
quence and gracefulness of his delivery, and could 
not account for it. also approved of his ministry, but 
could not tell how he come by it; when they heard 
these things; the two instances of Elijah and Elisha; 
the one supplying the wants of a Sidonian widow and 
the other healing a Syrean leper, when no notice was 
taken by them of poor widows and lepers in Israel: 
were filled to ith wrath] for they saw by these instan- 
ces, that they were compared to the Israelites of the 
times of Ahab and Jezebel, and that no miracles were 
to be wrought among them, or benefits conferred on 
them, though they were his townsmen; yea, that 
the Gentiles were preferred unto them; and • i c< <d 
the calling of the Gentiles was here plainly intimat- 



Christ's ministry. 173 

ed, which was always ungrateful and provoking to 
the Jews; and it was suggested that the favours of 
God and grace of the Messiah, are dispensed in asov- 
erign and discriminating way; than which nothing 
can be more offensive to the carnal mind." 

Luke IV. 29. And rose up and thrust him out of the 
city and led him to the brow of the hill whereon the 
city was built, that they might cast him down head- 
long. 

"They rose up in great tumult before the service 
was over, and without being dismissed, and thrust 
him* out of the city; first out of the synagogue and 
then out of the city, as unworthy to be in it, though 
an inhabitant of it; as if he had done something de- 
serving death and therefore to be punished as a male- 
factor without trial; And led him to the brow of the 
hill; the edge of it, where it runs out and hung 
over the precipice; whereon the city was built; that 
they might cast him down headlong and break him to 
pieces, in the manner ten thousand Edomites were 
killed by the Jews, in the time of Amaziah, 2 Chron. 
xxv. 12. These men without regard to the place of 
worship they were concerned in, or the Sabbath, 
rose up in great confusion, wrath and fury, and 
without a show of justice, and in the most brutal and 
barbarious manner attempted to killed Christ." 

Luke IV. 30. But he, passing through the midst of 
them, went his way. 

Another discourse preached by the Savior is record- 
ed as follows: 

Matt. XL 27. All things are delivered unto me of 
my father; and no man knoweth the Son but the 
Father; neither knoweth any man the Father save 
the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal 
him. 



174 FOOTSTEPS OP THE FLOCK. 

"This is to be understood of Christ, as the Medi- 
ator; for as God, nothing was delivered unto him, he 
had all things, all perfect ; on, power and gloryjall per- 
sons are given into his hands, angels and men; good 
angels are delivered to be confirmed in him. as their 
head, and to be made use of by him; evil spirits 
which are subject to his desciples, are also at his 
command and disposal; and all powers in heaven and 
on earth are given unto him; all the treasures of wis- 
dom and knowledge are hid with him, and distribut- 
ed to the sons of men, all the blessings of grace and 
the promises of the everlasting covenant, and all the 
glory and happiness of his people, are put into his 
hands: and no man knoweth the Son but the Father; 
the transcendent glories and perfections of his nature, 
as the Son of God; nor the whole of his work and of- 
fice as Mediator; or all that he was to do and suffer 
for his people; all that he had done for them, and 
should communicate to, and bestow upon them. 
Neither know any man the father save the Son; his 
essence of glory, his mind and will, his purpose and 
decrees, his counsel and covenant; the grace and love 
of his heart to his chosen people; what he had pre- 
pared and laid up for them and will make them par- 
takers of to all eternity: and he to whomsoever the 
Son will reveal him; both himself and his Father, and 
the grace and glory of each, which he does by his 
Spirit, who is the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in 
the knowlebge of him; and which entirely depends 
on his own sovereign will and pleasure." 

Matt. XI. 28. Come unto me, all ye that labour, and 
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

"Christ having signified that the knowledge of 
God and the mysteries of grace are only to be come 
at through him; and that he has all things relating 
to the peace, comfort, happines and salvation of men 



CHRIST'S MINISTRY. 175 

in his hands, kindly invites and encourage souls to 
come unto him for the same; by which is meant, not 
local coming on account of hearing him preach; for 
so his hearers to whom he now directed his speech 
were already come; many of them as multitudes did 
and might do, come to Christ is this way, who never 
know, or receive any spiritual benefits from him; nor 
a bare coming to him under the ordinance of baptism 
or attendance at the Lord's supper, the latter of which 
was not yet instituted; both may be performed by per- 
sons who are not yet come to Christ; but is to be un- 
derstood of believers in Christ, the going of the soul 
to him in the exercise of grace from him, and desire 
after him, faith and hope in him; believing in Christ 
and coming to him are synonimous terms, John vi. 
35. Those who come to Christ aright, come as sin- 
ners to a full, suitable and willing Savior, venture 
their souls upon him, and trust him for righteousness, 
life and salvation, who shows his willingness to 
save, and his readiness to give relief to distressed 
minds. The persons invited, are not all mankind, 
but all ye that labor and are heavy laden-, meaning 
not those who are laboring in the service of sin 
and Satan, are laden with iniquity and insensible 
of it; these are not weary of sin,nor burdened with it, 
nor do they want or desire any rest for their souls, but 
such who groan on account of the burden of sin on 
their conscience, and are pressed down with the 
yoke of the law and the load of human traditions, 
having labored until they are weary in order to find 
peace and rest for their souls." 

Matt. IV. 29. Take my yoke upon you and learn of 
me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall 
find rest for your souls. 

"Christ exhorts persons to come to him for rest 
and happiness; to profess their faith in him, to em- 



17G FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

brace the doctrine of the gospel, to submit to his or- 
dinances, live according to his laws, commandments 
and orders, which he as King of saints has made and 
requires obedience to; so those who come to him for 
life and believe in him as the Saviour of souls, mast 
not set in idleness or lay aside the performance of 
good works, and live in licentiosness, but always do 
ing the work and will of the Lord. This he calls his 
yoke, in distinction from the law of Moses and tradi- 
tion of the elders: and learn of me, for I am meek and 
lowly in heart; reference seems to be made to Zach. 
ix. 9, when such characters are given to the Messiah. 
The meekness, humility and loliness of Christ ap- 
pears in his assuming human nature; in his subjec- 
tion to his Father;in the whole of his conversation and 
deportment amongj meu; in his submission to the 
ordinances of baptism; in the course of his obedience 
to God, and in his sufferings and death; and is to be 
imitated by all his followers, who may learn many 
excellent things from his examples, as well as from 
his doctrines, particularly that whereas he was such 
a person, yet condescended to perform every duty 
with readiness and cheerfulness, should not think it 
below them to conform to every ordinance of his, 
every branch of his will; for he has set them so many 
examples, and they should tread in his steps, and 
walk as he walked. There never was such an ex- 
ample of humility and lowliness of mind, nor is their 
any instance so worthy of immitation as his. Our 
Lord says: learn of me, not of men, and ye shall find 
rest for your souls; which shows the rest he speaks of 
to be a spiritual rest, which is to be enjoyed in obedi- 
ence to Christ's commandments: ivhose ways areivays 
of pleasantness and his paths are paths of peace. 



REGENERATION: 177 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

REGENERATION. 

John I. 10. He was in the world, and the world was 
imade by him, and the world knew him not. 

"This is to be understood, not of his incarnation; 
for the word was, even all the time has from tire crea- 
tion of the world, denotes passed existence in the 
world, and the world intends, the world in general, as 
opposed to Judeas, and the people of the Jews, in the 
next verse; moreover the incarnation of the Woid 
is spoken of in verse 14, a new and distinct thing 
from this, but as his being in the world when first 
made and since, by his essence, by which he fills the 
whole world; and by his power, upholding and pre- 
serving it, and by his providence, ordering and man- 
aging all the affairs of it, and influencing and gov- 
erning all things in it, giving natural life and light 
to creatures in it, he was in it, as the light and 
life of it, and filling it and them, with vari- 
ous blessings of goodness; and he was in the promise 
and types before, as well as after the Jews were dis- 
tinguished from the other nations, as his peculiar 
people, and he was frequently visible in the world, in 
an human form before his incarnation, as in Eden's 
garden to our first parents, to Abraham, Jacob, Ma- 
noah and his wife and others. And the world ivas 
made by him-, this regards the whole universe, crea- 
tures and things, therefore cannot design the new 
creation; besides, if all men in the world were anew 
created by Christ, they would know him: and the 
world knew Mm not. There was at first, a general 
knowledge of Christ throughout the world among all 
the sons of Adam, after the first promise of him, 
which for awhile, continued; but in process of time 

12 



178 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK, 

being neglected and slighted, it was forgotten, and 
utterly lost, as to the greater part of mankind, for 
the Gentiles, for many hundreds of years, as they 
knew not the true God, so they were without Christ- 
without any notice of the Messiah, and this their ig- 
norance, as it was first their sin, became their pun- 
ishment. 

John I. II. He came to his own, and his own re- 
ceived him not. 

''By his own are meant the whole body of the 
Jewish nation, so called because they were chosen 
by the Lord above all people, had distinguishing fa- 
vors bestowed upon them; as the adoption, the cove- 
nants, the promises, the giving of the law, and the 
services of God; and had the Shekinah, and the sym- 
bol of the divine presence in a remarkable manner 
among them, and the promises of the Mes- 
siah was in a peculiar manner made 
to them; and indeed he was to be born cf them, 
so that they were his kindred, his people and his own 
nation, Now Christ, the Word, came to the Jews be- 
fore his incarnation, not only in types, personally 
and real, and in prophecies and promises, and in the 
word and ordinances, but in person; as to Moses in 
the bush; and gave orders to deliver the children of 
Israel out of Egypt, he came and redeemed them 
himself with a mighty hand, and out-stretched arm; 
in his love and pity he led them through [the Red sea 
as on dry ground; and through the wilderness in a 
pillar of fire by night* and he appeared to them at 
Mount Sinai and gave unto them the lively oracles of 
God: and his own received him not; they did not be- 
lieve in him, nor obey his voice; they rebelled against 
him, and tempted him often, particularly at Massah' 
and Meribah; they provoked him to anger and vexed 



REGENERATION, 179 

&nl grieved his Holy Spirit, as they afterwards sligh- 
ed the gospel by the prophets." 

Jj;u I. 12. 13 a.b as many as received him, to them 
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to 
them that believe on his name. 

"But as many as received him. This is explain- 
ed in the latter part of the next verse, by believing in 
his name; receiving him as the Word, and Son of 
God, as the Messiah, Saviour and Redeemer; as re- 
ceiving grace out of his fulness, and every blessing 
in him, as a justifying righteouaess, pardon of sin an 
xand inheritance among them that are sanctified; for, 
though the generality rejected him, there were some 
that received him: to them he gave the power to be- 
come the sons of God, as such were called, in distic- 
tion from the children of men, Gen. vi. 2, 4. To be 
the sons of God is a very special favour, a great bles- 
sing and high honor; saints indeed are not in so 
high a sense the sons of God as Christ is; but by 
adopting grace; and in this, Christ, the Word, has a 
concern, as all three divine persons have. The 
Father predestined men to the adoption of children, 
secures this blessing for them in the covenant of his 
grace, and puts them among the children, and as- 
signs them a good heritage; the Spirit, and who is 
therefore called the Spirit of adoption, discovers and 
applies this blessing to them, and witnesses t o their 
spirits that they are the children of God: and Christ 
the Word, or Son of God, not only espoused their per- 
sons, and in time assumed their nature, and by re- 
demption of them, opened a way for their reception 
of the adoption of children; but actually bestows up- 
on them the power, as it is here called, of becoming 
the sons of God: by which is meant, not a power of free- 
will to make themselves the sons of God, if they will 



1S"(X FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLCCK,. 

make use of it; but it signifies the honour and dignify 
conferred on such persons; it is more honorable than 
to be a son or daughter of the greatest potentate on 
earth, and is expressive of its being a privilege; for 
so it is an underserved and distinguishing one, and 
is attended with many privileges; for such are God's 
house-hold and family. Hence follows, even unto 
them that believe on his name; that is, in Christ, 
the Word ; the phrase is explanative of the former part 
of the verse, and is a discription and manifestative 
character of the sons of God; for though the elect of 
God by virtue of electing grace and the covenant of 
grace, are the children of God before faith; and are 
so considered in the gift of them to Christ, and when 
he came into the world to gather them together; and 
so antecedent to the Spirit of God being sent down in- 
to their hearts, to make this known to them; yet no 
man can know his adoption, nor enjoy the comfort of 
it, or claim his interest in it, until he believes. ,7 

John 1. 13. Which were born, not of blood, nor of 
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of 
God. 

" Which were horn, not of blood; or bloods, in the 
plural number. The birth here spoken of, is regen- 
eration, expressed by a being born again or from a- 
bove; by being quickened by the Spirit and grace of 
God; by Christ being formed in men; and by partak- 
ing of the divine nature; and by being made new 
creatures, as all that believe in the name of Christ 
are; and which is the evidence of their being the sons 
of God; and now this is owing not to blood or bloods; 
not to the blood of circumcission; or of the passover ? 
which the Jews had an high opinon of, ascribed life 
and salvation to, and to which nation this may be op- 
posed; so their commentators on Ezek. xvi. 6, 

12a 



RkG^NEBATlO^. 181 

Vhere the word live is twice used, observe on the first 
five, by the blood of the passover, on the second live, 
by the blood of circumcission; but, alas, these contri- 
bute nothing to the life of the new creature; nor is 
regeneration owing to the blood of ancestors, to na- 
*uial descent, as from Abraham, which the Jews val- 
ued themselves upon; for sin and not grace is con- 
veyed by natural generation; all men are of one blood, 
-and that is tainted with sin, and therefore can never 
have any influence on regeneration; no blood but the 
blood Christ can cleanse from all sin. Nor of the will 
of the flesh; man's free will, which is carnal and cor- 
rupt, is enmity to God, and impotent to every thing 
that is spiritually good, regeneration is ascribed to 
another power, even to the will and power of God, 
and denied this: nor of the will of man; of the best 
of men, as Abraham, David, and others; who though 
ever so willing and desirous, that their children, re- 
lations and friends should be born again and be par- 
takers of the grace of God, and live in his sight, could 
not effect any thing of this kind; all that they can do 
is to pray for them and give advice." 

John II!. 1. There was a man of Pharisees, named 
Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 

John III. 2. The same came to Jesus by night, and 
said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teach- 
er sent from God; for no man can do these miracles 
that thou doest, except God be with him, 

John HI. 3. Jesus answered, and said unto him, 
Yerily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born 
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 

"Jesus answered, and said unto Mm, Not to any 
express question put by Nicodemus; unless it can be 
thought that a question of this kind might be asked: 
What is the kingdom of God, so much spoken of in 



1S2 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK, 

thy ministry? and what is requisite to the feeing ami 
enjoying 1 of it? though not recorded by the evangelist; 
but rather to the words of Nicodemus, concluding,, 
from his miracles, that he was the Messiah; and that 
the kingdom of God was now approaching, or the- 
world to come, the Jews so much speak of; and in 
which all Israel, according to their notion were to 
have a part; and which notion our Lord, in the fol- 
lowing words, seems to oppose: Verily, verily, I say 
unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see 
the kingdom of God; Nicodemus, according to the 
sense of the nation, thought, that when the Messiah 
came, and his kingdom was set up, they should all 
shar« in it, with out any' more ado; they being des- 
cendants of Abraham, and having him for their fath- 
er; but Christ assures him, that he must be born a- 
gain; in distinction from and opposition to his first 
birt by nature, in which he was vile, polluted, carnal, 
and corrupt, being conceived in sin and shapen in 
iniquity, and was a transgressor from the womb, and 
by nature a child of wrath; and in opposition to his 
discent from Abraham, or being born of him and of 
his seed; for this would be of no avail to him in this 
case, nor give him any right to the privileges and or- 
dinances of the kingdom of God, or the Gospel dis- 
pensation, see Matt. in. 9, as also to the birth of 
proselyteism; for the Jews have a frequent saying, 
that "one that is made a proselyte, is like anew born 
child.''' Which they understand, not in a spiritual! 
but in a civil sense; such being free from all natural* 
and civil relations, and from all obligations to parents, 
masters, &c. And by this phrase our Lord signifies^ 
that no man, either as a man, or as a son of Abraham, 
or as a proselyte to the Jewish religion,, can have any 
true knowledge of, or right unto, the enjoyment of 
the kingdom of God, unless he is born again, or regen- 



REGENERATION.. 183 

erated and quickened by the Spirit of God, renewed 
in the spirit of his mind; has Christ formed in his 
heart; becomes a partaken of the divine nature, and 
in all respects a new creature; another in heart, in 
principle, in practice and conversation; or unldss he 
be boru from above, as the word is rendered in verse 
31, that is, by a supernatural power, having the 
heavenly image implanted in him; and being called 
with an heavenly calling, even with the high calling 
of God in Christ Jesus; if this is rot the case, a man 
can have no true knowldege of the kingdom of the 
Messiah, which is not a temporal or carnal one; it is 
not of this world, nor does it come by observation; 
nor can he have any right to the ordinances of it, 
which are of a spiritual nature; and much less can he 
be thought to have any true notions, or to be posses- 
sed of the true knowledge of grace, which lies in righ- 
teousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost; or have a 
fitness for, or a right unto, the kingdom of glory; 
though by the following words it seems the word is 
rightly rendered, again, or the second time." 

John HI. 4. Nicodemus said unto him, How can a 
man be born again when he is old? can he enter the 
second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 

John III. 5. Jesus answered, Yerily, verily, I say 
unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the 
Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 

"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee; 
explaining somewhat more clearly what he before 
said: except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit; 
these are two words expresssing the same thing, as 
Kimchi observes in many places in his commentaries, 
and signify the grace of the Spirit of God. By water 
is not meant material water, or baptismal water; for 
water baptism is never expressed by water only, 



184 FOOTSTEPS OPTHE FLC CK r 

without some additional word, which shows that the 
ordinance of water baptism is intended; nor has bap- 
tism any regenerating influence in it; a person may 
be baptised, as Simon Magus was, and yet not born 
again; and it is so far from having such virtue, that 
a person ought to be born again, before he is admitt- 
ed to that ordinance: and though submission to it is 
necessary, in order to a person's entrance into a church 
state, yet it is not necessary to the kingdom of heaven r 
or to eternal life and salvation;such a mistaken sense 
of this text seems to have given rise to infant bap 
tism in the African churches; who taking the words 
in this bad sense, concluded their children must be 
baptized, or they could not be saved; whereas by 
water is meant, in a figurative and metaphorical 
sense, the grace of God, as it is elsewhere. See 
Ezek. xxxvi. 25; John IV. 14; which is the moving 
cause of this new birth and according to which God 
begets men again to a lively hope, and that by which 
it is effected; for it is by the grace of God and not 
by the power of man's free will, that any are regen- 
erated, or made new creatures; and if Nicodemus 
was and officer in the temple, that took care to pro- 
vide water at the feasts, as Dr. Lightfoot hints, very 
petinently does our Lord make mention of water, it 
being his own element; regeneration is sometimes as- 
cribed to God the Father, as in, Pet. I. 3; James i. 18; 
and sometimes to the Son, 1 John n. 29; and here to 
the Spirit, as in Tit. in. 5-; who convinces of sin, sanc- 
tifies, renews, works faith, and every other grace, be- 
gins and carries on the work of grace unto perfection; 
and unless a man has this work of his wrought in his 
s >ul, as he can n^ver underst in 1 divine and spiritual 
things, so he can have no right to gospel ordinan- 
ces, or things appertaining to the kingdom of God; 
nor can he be thought to have passed from death to 



REGENERATION. 185 

life, and to have entered into an open state of grace 
and the kingdom of it." 

John 111. 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; 
and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit, 

"That which it born of the flesh is flesh; man by 
his natural birth, and as he is born acccording to the 
flesh of his natural parents, is a mere natural man; 
that is, he is carnal and corrupt, and cannot discern 
spirutal things; nor can he, as such, enter into, and 
inherit the kingdom of God — see 1 Cor. n. 14; xv. 50. 
And therefore there is a necessity of his being born 
again, or of the grace of the Spirit, and of his becom- 
ing a spiritual man; and if he was to be, or could be 
born of the flesh, or ever so many times enter into his 
mother's womb, and be born, even if it were possible, 
he would still be but a natural man, and so unfit for 
the kingdom of God. By flesh here is not meant the 
fleshy part of man, the body, as generated of another 
fleshy substance; for this is no other than what may 
be said of brutes; and besides, if this was the sense, 
Spirit in the next clause, must mean the soul, where- 
as one soul is not generated from another; but by 
flesh is designed, the nature of man; not merely as 
weak and frail, but as unclean and corrupt, through 
sin; and which being propagated by natual genera- 
tion from sinful men, cannot be otherwise; for, Who 
can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one, 
Job. xiv. 4. And though the soul of man is of a 
spiritual nature, and remains a spirit, notwithstand- 
ing the pollution of sin; yet it being defiled with the 
flesh, and under the power and influence of the lusts 
of the flesh, it may well be said to be carnal or flesh- 
ly; hence, flesh, as it stands opposed to spirit signifies 
the corruption of nature, Gal. v. 17; and such who 
are in a state of unregeneracy, are said to be after 



186 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

the flesh, and in the flesh, and even the mind itself 
is said to be carnal, Rom. vm. 5, 6, 7, 8. And that 
which is born of the Spirit is Spirit; a man that is 
regenerated by the Spirit of God, and the efficacy 
of his grace, is a spiritual man; he can discern and 
judge all things of a spiritual nature; he is a fit per- 
son to be admitted to spiritual ordinances and privi- 
leges; and appears to be in the spitual kingdom of 
Christ; and has a right to the world of blessed spirits 
above; and when his body is raised a spiritual body; 
will be admitted in soul, body and spirit into the joy 
of his Lord. Spirit in the first part of this clause sig- 
nifies the Holy Spirt of God, the author of regenera- 
tion and sanctification; hence that work is called the 
sanctification of the Spirit, and the renewing of the 
Holy Ghost, 1 Peter l. 2; Titus in. 5. And Spirit in 
the latter part, intends the internal work of grace 
upon the soul, from whence a man is denominated a 
a spiritual man; and as a child bears the same name 
with its parents, so this is called by the same as au- 
thor and efficient cause of it, is of a spiritual nature, 
and exerts itself in spiritual acts and exercises, and 
engages in spiritual things: and has its seat in the 
spririt or soul of man." 

John HI. 7. Marvel not that 1 said unto thee, Ye 
must be born again. 

''Marvel not that I said unto thee; for Nicode- 
mus was quite astonished at this doctrine of the new 
birth; it was altogether new to him; nor could he un- 
derstand, or conceive in what manner it could be: 
ye mast be bom again; there is a nesessity of re- 
generation of those, who are the chosen of God, and 
the redeemed of the Lamb; and of them only can the 
words be understood; for as for others, they neither 
can, nor will, nor must be born again; but the people 



REGKNKKATION. 187 

of God must be; partly because it is the will of God; 
it is his purpose and resolution, that they shall be 
regenerated; he has chosen them, through sanctifica- 
tion of the Spirit unto salvation by Christ; this is the 
way and method of saving sinners he has fixed upon, 
namely, not to save them by works of righteousness, 
but by grace, and according to abundant mercy, 
through the washing of regeneration, and the renew- 
ing of the Holy Ghost; and partly, because of the 
case and condition of men, which requires it; for 
whereas the chosen people of God, are predestinated 
to the adoption of children, and are taken into the 
family of God, and are heirs to an inheritance, it is 
necessary they should have a nature, temper and dis- 
position of mind, suitable to the inheritance they are 
to enjoy; which they have not in their natural estate, 
but is conveyed to them in regeneration. Their car- 
nal minds are enmity to God, and it is necessary they 
should be friendly to him, which cannot be, without 
regeneration; nor can they until they are born again 
please God, or do those things which are pleasing to 
him; to which may be added, what Christ has before 
suggested, which shovvs the necessity of it, that without 
it no man can either see or enter into the kingdom of 
God. To take off the surprise of Nichodemus, our 
Lord instances in a common natural case, to which 
regeneration may be compared and illustrated." 

John HI. 8. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and 
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell 
whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth; so is every- 
one that is born of the Spirit. 

"The ivind bloweth where it listeth; for ought 
any mortal can say, or do to the contrary; so the 
spirit of God is free in regeneration; he works how, 
and where and when he pleases, he acts freely in the 



188 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

first operations of his grace on the heart, and in all af- 
ter influences of it, as well in as the donations of his 
gifts to men. for different purposes, see 1 Cor.xn.ll,and 
this grace of the Spirit in regeneration, like the wind 
is powerful and inresistable, it cirries all before it; 
there is no withstanding it, it throws down Satan's 
strong holds, demolishes the fortifications of sin; 
the whole pose of hell, and the corruptions of a man's 
heart, are not a match for it, when the Spirit works; 
who can let ? And thou hear est the sound thereof, 
but canst not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it go- 
eth; as the wind, though its sound is heard, and the 
force felt, it cannot be seen; nor is it known certain- 
ly from whence it comes, and where are the treasu- 
res of it, from whence it begins, and where it ends; so 
is the grace of the Spirit of God in regeneration to 
a natural man; it is imperceptible, indiscernable, and 
unaccountable by him, 1 Cor. n. 14. So is every one 
that is born of the Spirit; he is regenerated by grace 
that is, as trul y sovereign, as powerful and irresist- 
tible,as the wind is, and seeing so ordinary a thing 
as the blowing of the wind is of such a nature, and so 
little to be accounted for; regeneration by the Spirit 
of God, who is comparable to the wind, and whose 
name so signifies, need not be thought so marvelous 
and astonishing, though the natural man discovers 
it not, and can't account for it. The beauty and pro- 
priety of this similee will more appear by observing 
the same Hebrew word is used both for the wind, 
and for the Holy Spirit of God; it is used for the ivind, 
in Gen. in. 8; viii. 1; 1 Kings, xix. 11; Eccl. i. 6, and 
in other places, and for the Spirit of God, in Gen. i. 2; 
vi. 3; Job. xxxin. 4, and elsewhere; and so likewise 
the Greek word is used for them both, for the wind in 
this place, and often for the Holy Ghost; and it may 
be observed that the Holy S pirit, because of his pow- 



REGENERATION. 189 

erful, comfortable and quickening influence, is com- 
pared to the wind, especially to the south wind; pas- 
sages in the Old Testament, which Christ might have 
in view, Cant. iv. 16, Zech ix. 14. What our Lord 
here says concerning the wind, is confirmed by all 
experience and philosophical observations, the rise of 
the winds, from whence they come and whither they 
go, cannot be accounted, the treasures of them are 
only with God, and known to him. See Eccl. xi. 5. 
Hence Peter tells the scattered strangers, 1 Peter i. 
22-25, Seeing you have purified your souls by obeying 
the truth, through the Spirit, unto unfeinged love of 
the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure 
heart fervently. Being born again, not of corruptible 
seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which 
liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, 
and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The 
grass witherith and the flower thereof falleth away. 
But the word of the Lord endureth forever and this 
is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. 
Again the work of regeneration is called quicking. 

John V. 21. For as the Father raiseth up the dead 
and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth 
whom he will. 

Hence the Apostles wrote to the Ephesian breth- 
ren, Eph. ir. 1-10: And you hath he quickened who 
were dead in trespasses and in sins. Wherein in 
time past ye walked according to the course of this 
world; according to the prince of the power of the 
air, the spirit that worketh in the children of diso- 
bedience. Among whom also we all had our con- 
versation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, ful- 
filling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and 
were by nature the children of wrath even as others. 
But God who is rich in mercy, for the great love 



190 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

wherewith he loved us, even when we »were dead in 
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by 
grace ye are saved. And hath raised us up together 
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ 
Jesus. That in the ages to come he might shew the 
exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards 
us through Christ Jesus, For by grace are ye saved 
through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the 
gift of God. Not of works lest any man should boast; 
for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, 
unto good works, which God hath before ordained 
that we should walk in them. 

Believing that these Scriptures are so plain, that 
all who read may know their meaning, I do not 
offer comment upon them. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

ELECTION AND FINAL PRESERVATION. 

John VI. 37. All that the Father giveth me shall 
come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no 
wise cast out. 

John VI- 39. And this is the Father's will which 
hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I 
should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last 
day. 

John VI. 44. No man can come unto me, except the 
Father which hath sent me draw him; and I will 
raise him up at the last day. 



ELECTION AND FINAL PRESERVATION. Ill 

John VI. 45. It is written in the prophets. And 
they shall be all taught of God. Every one there- 
fore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father 
cometh unto me. 

In accord with this great truth, we have the fol- 
lowing: 

Matt. XVI. 13.18. When Jesus came into the coasts 
of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his diciples, saying, 
Whom do men say that I the son of man am? And 
they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist; 
some Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the proph- 
ets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I 
am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art 
the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus an- 
swered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simeon 
Barjona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it un- 
to thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I 
say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon 
this rock I will build my church, and the gates of 
hell shall not prevail against it. 

John VI. 63. It is the spirit that quickeneth; the 
flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto 
you, they are spirit and they are life. 

Note the force of the last clause, it is this; the 
words that I, Christ, and no one else: the words that 
I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life. 



192 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK 

CHAPTER XX 

THE FLOCK. 

John X. 14=16. I am the good Shepherd, and I know 
my sheep, and am known of mine; as the Father 
knoweth me, even so know I the Father; and I lay 
down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have 
which are not of the fold; them also I mast bring, 
and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one 
fold, and one shepherd. 

"And other sheep I have; not distinct from those 
for whom he laid down his life, but from those who 
were under the Old Testament dispensation, and 
who heard not the thieves and robbers that were be- 
fore Christ, verse 8, others besides the lost sheep of 
the house of Israel, or the elect among the Jews to 
whom Christ was sent, and by whom are meant the 
chosen of God among the Gentiles, who were sheep, 
though not called and folded, for the reasons giv- 
en in verse 3. These though uncalled, belonged to 
Christ, he had an inheritance in them, they were giv- 
en him by his Father; he had them in his hands and 
upon his heart; his eye was upon them, and they 
were under his notice, inspection and care: which 
are not of this fold; of the Jewish nation and church, 
being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and 
strangers to the covenants of promise; were as sheep 
going astray; and were scattered about in the several 
parts of the world, and were to be redeemed out of 
every kindred, tongue, people and nation: then also 
I must bring; out of the wilderness of the world, 
from among the men thereof, their former sinful com- 
panions , from the folds of sin and Satan, and the 
pastures of their own righteosuness, to himself and 
unto his Father's presence, to his house of ordinances, 



"THE FLOCK. ISM 

to good fold of graen panares, an 1 at last to his 
heavenly kingdom and glory." 

"There was an necessity of doing all this;it was the 
Father's will and pleasure, his purpose and decree^ 
who had resolved upon it; and it was on account of 
•Christ's own engagements, and obligations to do it; 
as well as because of the case and condition of these 
sheep, who otherwise must have eternally punished. 

' 'And they shall hear my voice; not only external- 
ly, but internally; which is owing to his powerful and 
efficacious grace, who quickens them, and causes 
them to hear and live; unstops their deaf ears, and 
gives them ears to hear, and opens their hearts, to at- 
tend to his word, and gives them an understanding 
of it. Therefore, thegospel was sent among them; 
and there should be one fold and one Shepherd; one 
church state, consisting both of Jews and Gentiles; 
the middle wall of partition being broken down, these 
two coalesce in one, become one new man, and mem- 
bers of one and the same body. And of this fold or 
flock, there is but one Shepherd, Jesus Christ, who is 
the rightful Proprietor, and whose own the sheep are, 
and who knows how to feed them, and does take care 
of them; though there are many under shepherds, 
who are employed in feeding them." 

John X. 27=30. My sheep know my voice, and I 
know them and they follow me; and I give unto them 
eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall 
any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father 
which gave them me, is greater than all, and no man 
is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I 
and my Father are one. (Read carefully the 15 and 
16 chapters of this book; they are very instructive.) 

John XVII. 6-10. I have manifested thy name unto 
the men which thou gavest me out of the world;thine 

18 



194: FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

they were and thou gavest them me, and they have 
kept thy word. Now they have known that all things 
whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I 
have given unto them the words which thou gavest 
me. and they have received them, and have known 
surely that I came out from thee, and they have be- 
lieved that thou didst send me. I pray for them, I 
pray not for the world, but for uhem which thou hast 
given me, for they are thine. And all mine are thine 
and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. 
(Read the entire chapter.) 

The Acts of the Apostles. "This book in some copies is 
called, The Jets of the Holy Apostles. It contains art 
history of the ministry and miricles of the apostles 
of Christ, and is a sort of a journal of their actions, 
from which it takes its name. It begins at the as- 
cension of Christ, and reaches to the imprisonment 
of the Apostles Paul at Rome; and is a history of up- 
wards of thirty years; it gives an account of the first 
Gospel-church at Jerusalem, and of the progress of 
the Gospel there, and in Judea; it shows how the 
gospel went forth from Jerusalem, and was spread in 
the Gentile world, especially by the Apostle Paul, 
whose companion Luke was the writer of this book; 
for that it was written by him is very evident, from 
the beginning of it, it being dedicated to the same 
person, his gospel is, and of which he makes mention 7 
and in the Byric edition, the book is called. 
The Acts of Saint Lithe the Evangelist collected for 
the Saints. It was by him written in the Greek lan- 
guage, and, we are told, that there was a version of 
it into the Hebrew language, which was laid up in 
the library of the Jews at Liberias. Of the authenti- 
city of this book, there has been no doubt among the 
ancients, only Cerinthus the heretic endeavored t©» 



justification, 195 

discredit it, and it was not received by another sort 
of heretics, called Severiani, from Severus, a disciple 
of Tatian. It is a most excellent and useful work, 
showing the first planting of Christianity, and of the 
Christian churches, both among the Jews and Gen- 
tiles, the spread and progress of it in the various 
parts of the worlds what sufferings the apostles en- 
dured for the sake of it, and what success attended 
them, and is a standing proof and confirmation of the 
Christian religion." 

The footsteps of the flock, are so plainly and con- 
nectedly marked iu this entire book, that he who 
runs may read; comment is therefore not needed. 
1 think it unnecessary to say more than to ask every- 
one of my readers, to read the book of Acts for him- 
self. 



CHAPTER XXL 
Justification. 



the Epistle to the Romans J, "In the inscription an 
account is given of the author of the epistle, who is 
described in verse 1, by his name Paul, by his rela- 
tion to Christ, a servant of his; and by his office, an 
apostle, whose business and concern were with the 
Gospel, to which he was separated. This Gospel is 
commended from the author of it, who is God him- 
self; and from the antiquity of it, verses 2-3 (which 
he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy 
scriptures). Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our 



196" FOOTSTEPS OF THfiT FLOCK. 

Lord, which was made of the seed of David, accord- 
ing to the flesh. 

" Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, 
These words are in connection with the Gospel of 
God, verse 1, and express the subject-matter of it, 
the Son of God, the Saviour of sinners, the only Me- 
diator between God and men, who is Lord both of the 
dead and living, and is the sum and substance of the 
Gospel; he is here described by his relation to God y 
Ms Son, of the same nature with him, equal to him r 
and distinct from him; by his usual names, Jesus- 
Christ, the one signifying a Saviour, the other a-w 
nointed, and both, that he was annointed of God to 
be the Saviour of his people; and by his dominion 
over the saints, our Lord, not merely by creation, 
but by redemption and grace, and happy is the per- 
son that can claim interest in him: which teas made 
of the seed of David according to the flesh, and of av 
woman; and shows his existence before his incarna- 
tion, and the immediate power and hand of God in it y 
and was done, not by transmutation of him into flesh 
but by an assumption of human nature into union 
with his divine person, he is said to be made of the 
seed of David-, this points out the family from whence 
he sprung; particularly, Mary, has regard to the 
promise made to David, which God fulfilled, and 
shows the royal descent of Christ, it is added, accord- 
ing to the flesh; that is according to his human nature 
which phrase does not denote the corruption, but the 
truth of that nature; and supposes that he had an- 
other nature, otherwise there would have been no 
need of this limiting and restricting clause verse 3." 

The Epistfe to the Romans f. 4. And declared to be "the 
Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of 
holiness, by the resurection from the dead. 



JtrsTiT ic atioN. 197 

""Not made as he is said to be before, when his 
mcarnation is spoken of; nor did he begin to be the 
Son of God, when he was made of the seed of David 
but he, the Son of God, who existed as such from 
everlasting, was manifested in the flesh, or human 
nacure; this divine Sonship, and proper deity, are de- 
clared and made evident, with or by his power; which 
has appeared in the creation of all things out of noth- 
ing, &c. Here it seems chiefly to regard the power of 
Christ in raising the dead, and which is to be con- 
nected with the clause, by the resurrection from the 
dead; and designs either the resurrection of others, 
as Lazarus, and some other persons, in his life time, 
and of all at the last day, or the resurection of his 
own body, which dying he had power to raise up 
again, and did, which made it clearly appear that 
be was the Son of God, a Divine Person, truly and 
properly God; and this was done according to the 
Spirit of holiness, the divine nature of Christ, which 
as it is holy, so by it Christ offered himself to God, 
and by it was quickened, or made alive, after he had 
been put to death in the flesh, a clear proof of his be- 
ing truly the Son of God, a Divine person, and prop- 
erly God; and this was according to the Spirit of holi- 
ness. By the Spirit of holiness is meant the divine 
nature of Christ, which as it is holy, so by it Christ 
offered himself to God, and by it was quickened, or 
made alive, when he had been put to death in the 
flesh; which must be a clear and strong proof of his 
being truly the Son of God." 

The Epistal to the Romans I. 5. By whom we have re- 
ceived grace and apostleship, for obedience to the 
faith among all nations, for his name. 

"By whom we have received grace and apostle- 
ship. That is either by the Holy Spirit, from whom 



J98 1 footsteps: of the flock. 

all grace and gifts come, qualifying for the discharge 
of any office; or the Lord Jesus Christ, who is full of 
grace and truth, has received gifts for, and gives 
them to men, to fit them for whatever sense he is 
pleased to call them to. By grace and apostleship 
may be meant, either one and the same thing, the 
favor and honor of being the apostle of Christ; or dif- 
erent things, and the one in order to the other. Grace 
may design special saving grace in vocation, justifi- 
cation, pardon, and adoption, and sanctifieation, 
which was received with other saints, and is abso- 
lutely necessary to an apostle, and to any ordinary 
minister of the word; or the doctrine of grace, which 
they received from Christ, and dispensed to others;or 
rather the gift of grace, and the various means there- 
of, which they receive from their ascended Lord and 
King, by which they are furnished for apostleship, 
that is, the work and office of apostles; to which they 
were called by Christ, and from whom they receive 
a commission to execute it. The apostles takes in 
others besides himself, and says, we have received, 
which supposes giving, and excludes boasting; it 
obliges to make use of all grace and gifts to the glory 
of Christ, from whom they are received to the end for 
which they receive such an office, and grace to fit then 
for it,was,/or obedience to the faith ;that men might be 
brought by the ministry of the word to obey the faith, 
Christ the object of faith; to submit to his righteous- 
ness, and the way of salvation by him, and to be sub- 
ject to his ordinances^ or to obey the doctrine of 
faith, which is not barely to hear it, and notionlly re 
ceive it, but to embrace it, by faith, and retain it; for 
obedience rightly performed, is only that which is 
by faith, and springs from it. Now grace and apostle- 
ship were received, in order to be exercised among all 
nations; not in Judea only, to which the first commis- 



JUSTIFICATION-. T99 

s^on of apostleship was limited, but in all the nations 
of the world, as the commission renewed by Christ 
after his resurection, ordered; that some of all nations 
of the earth might, by the power of divine grace be 
brought to faith and obedience; and all this, the 
qualifications for the office, the due exercise of it, in 
all the world, and the success that attended it, was 
for his name, for the honor and glory of Christ, in 
whose name they went, and which they bore and 
carried among the Gentiles, out of whom he was 
pleased to take a people for his name, Acts xv. 14." 

The Epistle to the Romans 1. 14. I am a debtor to both 
Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise and 
unwise. 

The Epistle to the Romans I. 15. So as much as in me 
is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at 
Home also. 

The Epstle to the Romans I. 16. For I am not ashamed 
of the gospel of Christ;for it is the power of God unto 
salvation to every one that believeth;to the Jew first, 
and also to the Greek. 

The Epistle to the Romans I. 17. For therein is the 
righteousnesss of God revealed from faith to faith; as 
it is written, The just shall live by faith. 

The Epistle to the Romans I. 18. For the wrath of God 
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and 
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in un- 
righteousness. 

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven. 
The apostle having hinted at the doctrine of justifi- 
cation by faith in the righteousness of Christ; and 
which he designs now largely to insist upon in the 
epistle, and to prove that there can be no justification 
of a sinner in the sight of God by the deeds of the 



100 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

law, in order to set this matter in a clear light, frorra 
hence, to the end of the chapter, and in the following: 
ones, represents the sad estate of the Gentiles with 
the law of nature, and of the Jews with law of Mos- 
es; by which it most clearly appears, that neither of 
them could be justified by their obedience to the re- 
spective laws under which they were, but that they 
both stood in need of the righteousness of God. By 
the wrath of God is meant the displacency and indig- 
nation of God at sin and sinners; his primitive jus- 
tice, and awful vengeance; the judgments which he- 
executes in this world; and that everlasting dis- 
pleasure of his, and wrath to come in another world, 
which all sinners are deserving of , and God's elect are- 
delivered from, through Christ's sustaining it, in 
their room and stead, which comes and abides 
on all impenitent and unbelieving persons. This is 
said to be revaleed ;where? not in the gospel, in which 
the righteousness of God is revealed; for the Gospel, 
strictly taken, is grace, good news, glad tidings, and not 
wrath and damnation ;though indeed in Christ r s suffer- 
ings for the sins of his people, which the Gospel gives 
us an account of, there is a great display of the wrath 
of God, and his indignation against sin; but this 
wrath of God is revealed in the law; it is known by 
ho light of nature, and to be perceived in the law of 
Moses, and may be observed in the Scriptures; as in 
the punishment of the old world, the burning of 
Sodom and Gomorrah, turning Lot f s wife into a pil- 
lar of salt, the plagues of Egypt, Sec, mentioned in 
this chapter. This wrath of God is said to come 
from heaven, openly, manifestly, in the sight of all; 
or from God who is in heaven, and not from second 
causes; but as it will be revealed from heaven, when 
Christ shall descend from thence, at the day of judg- 



JUSTIFICATION. 2C1 

ment, against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of 
men" 

The Epistle to the Romans I. 19=23. Because that which 
may be known of God is manifest in them; for God 
hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things 
of him from the creation of the world are clearly 
seen, being understood by the things that are made, 
even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are 
without excuse. Because that when they knew God 
they glorified him not as God; neither were thankful; 
but because vain in their imaginations, and their 
foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves 
to be wise, they became fools; and changed the 
glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made 
like to corrupible man, and to birds, and four-footed 
beasts, and creeping things. (See the residue of the 
chapter.) 

The Epistle to the Romans II. This chapter contains, 
in general a vindication of the justice an equity of 
the divine procedure against meu, such as described 
in the preceding chapter; and a refutution of several 
pleas that might be made by the Gentiles, who had 
not the law, and by the Jews who had it; and 
concludes with exposing the wickedness of the latter, 
and showing who they are that are properly Jews 
and circumcised persons on the account of God. 
(Read the chapter.) 

The Epistle to the Romans 111. "In this chapter are an- 
swers to several objectons which follow one upon an- 
other, relating to what the apostle had said concern- 
ing the equality of the Gentiles with the Jews; and 
various proofs out of the Psalms and Prophets, show- 
ing the general deprivity and corruption of mankind, 
of the Jews as well as of the Gentiles and the conclu- 
sion from all this, that there is no justificatton by the 



202 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

words of the law, but by the righteousness of God re- 
ceived by faith, of which a large and clear account 
is given." (Read the chapter.) 

The Epistle to the Romans IV. "The apostle having, in 
the preceding chapter, proved that there is no justifi- 
cation before God by the works of the law, partly 
from the depraved state and conditon that all men 
are in by nature, both Jews and Gentiles; and partly 
from the nature of the law itself, which discovers 
sin, arraigns for it, and convicts of it, and pronounces 
them, guilty before God for it; as also by showing, 
that it is by another righteousness, which he des- 
cribes, that men are justified in the sight of God; pro- 
ceeds in this to confirm the same by an example; and 
that which he pitches upon is the most appropriate and 
pertinent he could have thought of, namely, that of 
Abraham, the father of the Jews, verse 1; for in 
whatsoever way he was justified, his sons surely 
could imagine it must be the right way, nor should 
they seek another: now that Abraham was not justi- 
fied by his works, he proves, verse 2, from an absurdity 
following upon it, that he would have just reason to 
glory; whereas no man ought to glory before God, 
but only in the Lord, and by a passage of Scripture, 
verse 3, to which he appeals, he makes it clearly ap- 
pear that he was justified by faith, for that says, his 
faith was counted for righteousness. This case of 
accounting anything to another for righteousnes is 
illustrated by two sorts of persons, who are differ- 
net; to the worker, the reward is reckoned of debt, 
not of grace, verse 4; but to the believer that works 
not. his faith, as Abraham's was, is counted for right- 
eousness; whence it follows, that not the worker is 
justified by his works, but the believer by the right- 
eousness of faith; this is confirmed by a testimony of 



JUSTIFICATION, 203 

David, Psa. Xxxii. 1, 2; by which the apostle proves 
the imputation of righteousness without works, in 
which, the happiness of men consists, verses 6-8, and 
shew that this happiness does not belong to circumcis- 
ed persons only, but to the uncircumcised also; and 
therefore is not by circumcision, but by faith, verse 
9; and which he proves, by observing, when faith 
was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness;not when 
he was circumcised, but before, verse 10; the use of 
which circumcision to him was to assure him, that 
he should be the father of uncircumcised Gentiles 
that believed, to whom righteousnes should be im- 
puted, as to him when he was circumcised, verse 11; 
who are described by their imitation of his faith, 
which he had, and exercised before his circnmcision, 
verse 12. And this leads on to a fresh argument, 
proving justification to be by faith, and not by the 
works of the law, since the promise made to Abra- 
ham and his seed, was not through the law, but the 
righteousnesss of faith; and consequently both his 
and their justification were not by the one but by the 
other, verse 13, or, if otherwise, both the faithfulness 
of God, and the faith of his people, would be void, 
and the promise of grace of no effect, verse 14. And 
this is still further argued from the effect of the law 
working wrath, which if justification was by it, it 
would never do, verse 15. The wisdom and goodness 
of God in giving faith, not works, a concern in justi- 
fication, are observed verse 16; whereby it appears to 
be free grace, faith only being a recipitent, and what 
gives all the glory to God; and also the promise of 
eternal life through justification by free grace be- 
comes sure to all the spiritual seed; who are distri- 
buted into two sorts, the believing Jews under the 
legal dispensation, and the believing Gentiles under 
the gospel dispensation; of both of which Abraham 



2 ') 4 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

was the father; which he is confirmed by a.testimonv 
of Gen. xvn. 4, 5; whose faith is described by the ob- 
ject of it, the Omnipotent God, that quickens the 
dead, and call things that are not, as though they 
were, verse 17, and by the nature of, verse 18, believ- 
ing in hope, resting on the promise of God; and by 
the strength of it, verse 19; and was so far from be- 
ing staggered through unblief at these things, but was 
in belief, thereby gloryfying God the object of his 
faith, nay, it rose up to a full assurance, verse 21, be- 
ing built upon the power of a promising God;hence as 
before observed his faith was reckoned to him for 
righteousness, verse 22. And now in the same way 
that he was justified all his children, his spiritual 
children, his children, his spiritual seed, are justified, 
whether they be Jews or Gentiles, for what is said 
conceening the imputation of the righteousness of faith 
to him does not concern him only, verse 23; but all 
true believers also; whose faith is described by the 
object of it, him that raised up Christ from the dead, 
that is God the Father, verse 24, who is hereby sup- 
posed to have been dead, and is represented as the 
Lord and Savior of his people; and of whom a further 
account is given, verse 25; as being delivered into the 
hands of men, of justice, and of death, for the sins 
of his people, which he took upon him, and bore, and 
made satisfaction for, and as being raised again for 
their justification; so that this is a benefit, owing not 
to the words of men, but to what Christ has done, 
and suffered in the room and stead of his people; 
which is what the apostle meant to bring this point 
unto; the blessed effects and consequences of which 
he relates in the next chapter. 

The Epistle to the Romans V. The apostle having 
clearly stated, and fully proved the doctrine 



JUSTIFICATION. 205 

of justification, by the righteousness of faith, 
proceeds to observe the comfortable fruits 
ail effects of this great blessing, known 
and enjoyed by the believer; as also the source and 
spring of it, the love of God, which appears in the 
death of Christ, in the room and stead of his people, 
which is the foundation on which it stands; and like- 
wise gives an illustration of this benefit by compar- 
ing the two heads, Adam and Christ. The first of 
the fruits and effects of justification, as a benefit, re- 
ceived and enjoyed by faith, is peace with God 
through our LordJesus Christ, verse 1. The next is 
access through the Mediator to the throne of grace, 
where justified ones stands with a holy boldness and 
confidence, and the third is a cheerful hope of eternal 
glory, verse 2; yea, such not only have joy in the 
hope of what is to come, but glory even in present 
afflictions, which prevents an objection that might be 
made to the above mentioned fruits and effects of 
justification, taken from the tribulation which saints 
are exercised with; and what occasions of glory were 
in these, is the sanctified use of happy products of 
afflictions, these being the meaning of exercising and 
increasing patience; by the means of which a large 
experience of divine things is gained and through 
that hope is confirmed, and all influenced by a plen- 
tious discovery of the love of God to the soul, 
by the Spirit, verses 4, 5; an instance of which 
love is given, verse 6, in Christ's dying for 
men; which love is enhanced by the character 
and condition of the persons for whom Christ died, 
being ungodly, and without strength, and by the 
time of it, being due time; then follows a further illus- 
tration of his love, by comparing it with what in- 
stances of love are found among men, verse 7, by 
which it appears to be unparalelled, since scarcely for 



206 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

a righteous man, but peradventure for a good man, 
one would die, yet no man dies for the ungodly, as 
Christ did, hence as his Father's love is highly 
commended by giving him up to death for persons 
wtr'le in such a state and condition, and under such 
a character, verse 8. Justification now springing 
from this love, and being founded on the death of 
Christ, there follows a security from wrath to come, 
verse 9, a certainty of salvation, verse 10, which is 
strongly argued from the different characters those 
Christ died for bear, before and after reconciliation, 
and from the death and the life of Christ, and also, a 
rejoicing and glorying in God through Christ, full 
expiation being made by his blood for sin, and this 
received by faith, verse 11. 

"Then the apostle proceeds to compare the two 
heads, Adam and Christ, together, the design of 
which is to show the largeness and freeness of the 
love and grace of God; how righteousness for justi- 
fication comes by Christ, and how the persons before 
described as sinners and ungodly, came to be in su<m 
a condition, and that is through the sins of the first 
man, in whom they were, and in whom they all sin- 
ned and died, verse 12, wherefore there must be a law 
before the law of Moses, or there could have been no 
sin, verse 13, but that sin was in being, and was reck- 
oned and imputed to the posterity of Adam, is clear 
from this single instance, of death's power over in- 
fants, from the times of Adam to Moses, verse 14, 
who therefore must be a public head, representing 
all his posterity, so that they were involved in the 
guilt of his sin which brought death upon them; in 
this he was a type of Christ, as is asserted in the 
same verse; that so as Adam was but one, and by one 
sin of his conveyed death to all his seed, so Christ 
the Mediator, is but one, and by his one obedience 



JUSTIFICATION. 207 

conveys righteousness and life to all his seed, anu 
yet in some things there is a dissimilutude, sin and 
death, through the first man, and conveyed in a nat- 
ural way to his offspring, but righteousness and life 
from Christ, in a way of grace, verse 15. It was one 
offence of Adam's, which brought condemnation and 
death upon all his posterity, but the righteousness of 
Christ is not only a justification of his seed from that 
one offence, but from all others; verse 16, the one is 
unto death, the other unto life; greater is the efficacy 
in the one to quicken, than in the other to kill, verse 
17, where a repetition is made of what is said in verse 
15; with an explanation, and the similitude between 
the two heads is clearly expressed, verse 18; when 
condemnation on account of the sin of Adam, and 
justification through the righteousness of Christ, are 
opposed to each other, and both as extending to the 
whole of their several respective offspring, condem- 
nation through Adam's offence to all his natural seed 
and justification of life through Christ's righteous- 
ness to all his spiritual seed, which is more fully and 
clearly expressed in verse 19, where the way and 
manner in which the one becomes sinners, and the 
other righteous, is plainly directed to; that it is by 
the imputation of Adam's disobedience to the one and 
by the imputitation of Christ's righteousness to the 
other. 

"In verse 20, an objection is obviated 
which might be formed thus: if justification 
is by the grace of God, and through the 
obedience and righteousness of Christ, then 
the law is of no use; what purpose does it serve ? 
what occasion was there for its entrance. The apos- 
tle replies, that though justification is not by it, yet 
a good end is answered by its entrance? for hereby 
sin is more known to be what it is, both original and 
actual, and the grace of God appeared more abundant 
in justification from it, and in the pardon of it, and 



238 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

tills grace is further illustrated in verse 21, by com- 
paring sin and grace together, and the different ef- 
fects of their empire over the sons of men, the one 
reigning unto death: the other reigning through 
righteousness to eternal life by Christ." 

The Epistle to the Romans VI. "The apostle having 
finished his design concerning the doctrine of justifi- 
cation, refutes the charge brought against it as a 
licentious doctrine, and prevents any ill us-5 that 
might be made of it by men of evil minds, and press- 
es justified persons by the strongest arguments, and 
with the best of motives, to holiness of life and con- 
versation. He saw that whereas he affirmed in the 
proceeding chapter, that sin being made to abound 
by the law, in the condemnation of sinners, the grace 
of God the more abounded in their justification and 
pardon, that some would rise up, and object that this 
doctrine countenances men's continuance in sin, and 
opens a door to all manner of iniquity; that others 
would abuse the doctrine; and encourage themselves 
in a vicious course of life, upon this mistaken notion, 
that the grace of God would be the more illustrated 
by it. All this is suggested in verse 1, to which an 
answer is returned in verse 2, with an abhorrence 
of everything of this kind, and by an argument show- 
ing the absurdity and inconsistency of it, seeing per- 
sons d^ad to sin, as justified ones are, cannot live in 
it; and that they are dead to sin, and under obliga- 
tion to live unto righteousness, he argues from their 
baptism into Christ's death, which represents their 
being dead with Christ; and buried with him, verses 
3, 4; and likewise the resurrection of Christ from the 
dead, and theirs by him, whereby they are both fitted 
and obliged to walk in newness of life; since they 
are, and should be like him, as in his death, so in his 



JUSTIFICATION 20$ 

resurrection from the dead; and the rather, as they 
are implanted in him. as the branches in the vine 
veses 4, o; especially as it was the great end of his 
death, that by the crucifiction of sin with him, it 
might so be destroyed, that his people should be no 
more servants to it, verse 6; this being proved, that 
justified ones are dead to sin. The apostle argues 
upon it, that such are free from sin, verse 7, and 
therefore ought not and cannot live in it, for this 
must be given into as an article of faith, that such as 
are dead with Christ live, and shall live a life of com- 
munion with him, verse 8, which is inconsistent with 
living in sin; he further argues from the resurrection 
of Christ, which was not to die more, verse 9, and 
suggests, that in like manner, those who have been 
dead and burried and risen with him which their 
baptism signifies, should not live in sin, which is no 
-other than dying again; and to strengthen this, directs 
to the ends of Christ's death and resurrection, verse 
10. The end of the one being unto sin, to finish, 
make an end of that, and be the death of it, and the 
end of the other being, living unto God; wherefore, 
in like manner, such who profess to be Christ's, to be 
justified by his righteousness, to be baptized into his 
death, and risen with him, should account themselves 
dead unto sin, and so not live in it, and alive to God 
through the righteousness of Christ, and so live to his 
honor and glory, verse 11, 

"Having thus answered the objection and remov- 
ed the calumny, and set the matter in a clear light, 
the apostle proceeds to dehort from sinning, and ex- 
hort to holiness of life, verses 12, 13, in which he com- 
pares sin to a tyrant, the lusts of it, to the laws of 
such an one, and which should not therefore be 
obeyed; and the rather as the wages of them is death, 
and to have made the body already mortal; where- 
in 



2W FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK, 

fore the members of it should not be employed in 
such service, but in the service of God; and whereas 
it might be objected that sin is too strong and preva- 
lent, and has got the mastery, and willkeepits power, 
the apostle declares it a promise of grace, that sin 
shall not have the dominion, verse 14, giving' this as 
a reason, such as are justified are not under the law, 
as a covenant of works, but under the covenant of 
grace, of which this promise is a part; and in order 
lo prevent an ill use of this doctrine, and remove an 
objection that might be made, that if not under the 
law, men are under no retraints, but may go on in 
sin without control, he answered it with his usual 
detestation, verse 15; argues the folly and absurdity 
of living in sin upon such an account, because it- 
would make them servants of sin unto death, verse 
16, and so they were before converted, but now were 
otherwise, for which they had reason to be thankful, 
verse 17, since through the grace of God they had 
yielded an hearty obedience to the Gospel. Where- 
fore return to their former state of bondage; whereas 
being freed from the power and dominion of sin, they 
were now the servants of righteousness, and ought tc 
act according to such character verse 18. Where- 
fore acting the part of reaonable men, it was their 
reasonable service, to yield themselves servants, not 
unto sin and uncleanness, but to righteousness and 
holiness, verse 19. ,r 

The Epistle to the R'onrairs VII. "In this 
chapter the Apostle discourses concerning 
the freedom of justified and regenerated 
persons from the law, and concerning the nature, 
use, and excellency of it; in which he removes several 
objections to it, and gives an account from his own 
experience of the struggle and combat there is be- 



JUSTIFICATION. 21L 

tween flesh and spirit in regenerated persons; and 
which shows, that though believeis are justified 
from sin, yet still sin remains in them, and is the 
complaint of tbeir souls. Whereas he had in vene 
14, of the preceding chapter, asserted that believers 
are not under law, but under grace; he knew that 
this would be matter of offence to the believing Jews, 
who still retained a high opinion of the law; where- 
fore he takes it up in the beginning of this chapter, 
and explains his meaning, and shows in what sense 
justified ones are delivered from it; and first observes 
a known maxim, which everyone, especially such as 
know anything of the nature of laws, must allow of; 
that the law has power over a man as long as he lives, 
and no longer, verse 1, and then particularly instan- 
ces in the law of marriage, verse 2, which is in force 
as long as both parties live, and no longer; dur- 
ing the husband's life the wife is bound, but when 
he dead she is loosed, and which is further explained, 
verse 3, that should she marry another while her hus- 
band is living, she would be an adultress; but he be- 
ing dead, she is not liable to such imputation;this the 
apostle accommodates, verse 4, to the case of the law, 
and the saints deliverance from it, in which he asserts 
that they are dead to the law, and that to them, as in 
verse 6, by the body of Christ; and therefore the law 
could have no dominion over them, as is the case of 
all laws, when men are dead; and so they might be 
lawfully married to another, to bring forth fruit to 
God, according to the particular law of marriage. 
This is illustrated by the different state and condition 
of God's elect, before and after conversion; while in 
an unconverted state, the law irritates indwelling 
sin, and the lusts of it, and by the members of the 
body operates to the bringing forth the deadly fruit 
«of sin, verse 5; but when delivered from the irritating 



212 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

power of the law, that being dead in the consequence 
of the sufferings and death of Christ, they are both 
in a capacity and under obligation to serve the Lord, 
in a new and spiritual manner, verse 6, and whereas 
he had said the motions of sin are stirred up by the 
law, verse 5, he saw that an objection might be rais- 
ed against the law, as if it was sinful; this he re- 
moves, by expressing his abhorance of such a 
thought, by pointing out the law as that which 
makes known sin, and by the experience he himself 
had of it, making known indwelling sin to him, verse 
7; when he goes on to give an account of the work- 
ings of corrupt nature in him, under the prohibition 
of the law; how it was with him before it entered in- 
to his conscience, and how it was afterwards, that 
before he thought himself alive, and in a fair way to 
eternal life; but afterwards, as sin appeared to him 
more vigorous than ever, he found himself a dead 
man, and dead to all hope of life by the law, being 
killed by it, or rather by sin, which worked by it, 
verses 8, 9, 10, 11; and therefore he indicates the law 
as holy, just and good, verse 12, and answers an ob- 
jection that might be formed from what he had said 
concerning the effects the law had upon him, as if it 
was made death unto himj whereas the office it did, 
was to show him the exceeding sinfulness of sin, 
which, and not the law, was the cause of death, verse 
13; for to it, with other saints he bears this testimony, 
that it is spiritual, though in comparison of it, he was 
carnal, and sold under sin, verse 14, and from hence- 
foward to the end of the chapter, he gives an account 
of the force and power of \ indwelling sin in him, and 
the conflict there was in him between grace and cor- 
ruption: he had a knowledge of that which is good 7 
approved of it, and yet did it not, hated sin, and yet- 
committed it, verse 15;but his desire after that which 

14a 



•jrs'i iiFrcATiou. 21 3 

was good, and his approval of it, showed that he 
-agreed to this, that the law was good, verse 16;nor was 
his commission of sin to be imputed to his renewed 
self, but to indwelling corruption, verse 17;the fleshly 
part in him, in which was no good thing, verse 18; he 
found he had a will to do that which is good, but not 
power to perform it; which was abundantly evident 
by his practices, and seeing that what he would he 
did not, and what he would not he did, verse 19; from 
whence he concludes again, verse 20, as in verse 17, 
that the evil which he did was to be reckoned not to 
his spiritual, or renewed self, but to his corrupt na- 
ture; which he fcund as a law that had power to com- 
mand and to cause to obey, always at hand, close by 
him when he was desirous of doing good, verse 21, 
and yet amidst all these workings of sin in him, he 
found a real delight and pleasure in the holy law of 
God, as he was renewed in the spirit of his mind, 
verse 22, Upon the whole, he perceived there were 
two contrary principles in him, which militated one 
against the other, and sometimes so it was, that 
through the strength of corrupt nature in him, he was 
made a captive to the law of sin and death, verse 23; 
which brought from him a doleful lamentation and 
complaint, as if his case was desperate, and there 
was no deliverance for him, verse 24, and yet upon a 
view of his great Redeemer and Savior, Jesus Christ, 
he takes heart, and thanks God that there was, and 
would be a deliverance for him through Christ, verse 
^5, and then closes the account, which stood thus in 
his experience, and does in the experience of every 
regenerated man;that with his renewed mind he serv- 
ed the holy law of God from a principle of grace, and 
with his fleshly and carnal part the law of sin." 

The Epistle to the Romans VIII. "As the former chap- 



214 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

ter shows that sanctified ones are not free from tlxe 
being of sin in them, which is a ground of general 
complaint and uneasiness, this chapter shows that 
justified ones are freed from the guilt of sin and se- 
cure from the punishment for it; and have the utter- 
most reason to rejoice and be glad,and even triumph, 
in a full assurance of faith, on account of the privi- 
leges they enjoy through the grace of the Father, the 
Son, and of the Spirit, which are distinctly, largely, 
and severally mentioned; it begins, verse 1, which 
takes notice of a peculiar privilege saints have in 
Christ, and by virtue of union to him, security from 
all condemnation; and which is inferred from their 
sure and certain deliverance from sin by Christ 
ch. Vii. 25; the person sharing in this privilege are 
described by their being in Christ, and by their walk- 
ing after the Spirit of Christ, in consequence of it; a 
reason confirming this privilege is given, verse 2, tak- 
en from the power and efficiency of the Spirit, deliv- 
ering them from the tryanny and dominion of sin; or 
rather from the holiness of Christ's human nature, 
as a branch of their justification; this 
privilege is made more fully to ap- 
pear, and the saints interest in it, by the mission of 
Christ, to bring everlasting righteousness for them, 
which is the foundation of it, verse 3; the occasion of 
which was the weakness of the law. or rather the 
impotency of man, through the corruption of his na- 
ture, to fulfil the law; the sender, or efficient cause of 
this mission, is God the Father; the person sent, his 
own Son; the manner in which he was sent, in 
human nature, which had the appearance of being 
sinful; what God did in it; he condemned sin in it; 
which is a reason why theres is no condemnation to 
them that are in him; and the end of all this, verse 4, 
was, that the law of righteousness might be perfect- 



JUSTIFICATION. 2 15 

ly fulfilled by Christ for them, or by them in him; 
who are described in part, as in verse 1, upon the re- 
ception of which part of the description, the apostle 
proceeds to show the difference between unregener- 
ate and regenerate persons, verse 5; partly by their 
characters, the one being carnal, or after the flesh, 
the other being spiritual, or after the Spirit; and by 
their different affections, the one minding the things 
of the flesh, and the other the things of the Spirit; 
the different issues and effect of which, namely, a 
carnal, and a spiritual mind, are observed, verse 6, 
death following upon the one, life and peace upon the 
other; the reasons of which, with respect to the for- 
mer, are given, verse 7, taken from the enmity of the 
carnal mind to God, and the non-subjection of it to 
the law of God, and the impossibility of it being sub- 
ject to it; and therefore nothing but death can be ex- 
pected; from whence this conclusion is made, verse 
8, that unregenerated men are not in a state, nor in a 
capacity, to please God, nor do what is acceptable 
to him, the above being the disposition and temper of 
their minds; and then in verse 9, the apostle returns 
to the argument from whence he had digressed, that 
though he had said the above things of the unregen- 
erated men, he had other thoughts of those to whom 
he writes; they were not in the flesh, nor minded the 
things of flesh, and so were not liable to condemna- 
tion and death; which he proves by the inhabitation 
of the Spirit of God in them; for such as have him 
not, have no proof or evidence of their being in 
Christ, so consequently have no proof of their securi- 
ty from condemnation; and partly by Christ's being 
in them, and which is evidence of their being in 
Christ, and so the above privileges, verse 10, the con- 
sequence of which is, that though by reason of sin 
the body is mortal, and does die, yet the soul lives, 



216" FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK, 

not only naturally but spiritually, by faith in Christ: 
now, in glory hereafter,, by virtue of Christ's right- 
eousness imputed to it, and is free from condemna- 
tion and death; besides, by virtue of the Spirit's* 
dwelling in them, their mortal bodies will be quicken- 
ed in the general resurrection, verse 11, and from all 
these blessings of divine goodness, both in soul and 
body, the apostle infers, that the saints are under ob- 
ligations, not to live in a carnal, but in a spiritual man- 
ner, verse 12, and to which he exhorts, verse 13, and 
presses by motive, taken from the different consen- 
quences of those things; death follows by living after 
the flesh, and life by the mortification of sin, by the 
Spirit of God;: and whereas the walking after the 
Spirit, by which be had described those that are safe 
from condemnation, is owing to their being led by 
him; and their being led by him is an evidence of 
their divine sonship, verse 14, from hence he passes 
to consider the privilege of adoption; and that these 
saints were intrusted in this privilege, he proves, 
verse 15, partly by their not having the spirit of 
bondage, which belongs to servants; and partly by 
their having the Spirit of adoption, who had made 
know this grace unto them, and their interest in it; 
and that they had received from him as a Spirit of 
adoption, was evident by their calling God their 
Father under this influence; and also by the witness 
he bore to their spirits that they were the children of 
God, verse 16, of which they were conscious; and 
from this privilege of adoption, the apostle concludes 
heirship, verse 17;which is of such a nature,that there 
is none like it; both with respect to the subject of it r 
God himself: with respect to him with whom they 
are heirs, Christ Jesus; and the way in which they 
come to share the glorious inheritance with him; 
this they need not grudge to do, since their is no com- 



JUSTIFICATION. 217 

parison between their sufferings and the glory they 
shall enjoy, verse 18, which both Jews and Gentiles 
were in expectation of; the latter of which are des- 
cribed in. verses 19, 20, 21, 22; by their name the crea- 
ture, the whole creation; not only Jews but Gentiles 
also, who are described as having the first fruits of 
the Spirit, verse 23, were waiting for the manifesta- 
tion of the children of God among the Gentiles, with 
them to complete the mystical body who shall share 
together the glory before spoken of, which their son- 
ship and heirship entitles them to; and for which 
there is encouragement to wait with patience and in 
hope, from the connection of salvation with the grace 
of hope; and from the nature of things hoped for, 
which is unseen, verses 24, 25. From hence the 
apostle proceeds to consider another privilege which 
the saints have, who are in the Spirit, and walk after 
the Spirit, the Spirit helps their infirmities; particu- 
larly in prayer, the nature of which, in some cases, 
they are at loss about, verse 26; and this he does, by 
making intercession for them; the manner in which 
this is done in them, is unutterable groans; and the 
rule according to which it is made, is the will of God, 
the mind of the spirt being known by the Searcher of 
hearts, verse 27; in a word, such are the privileges 
of believers in Christ, that everything in the whole 
world, in heaven, and in earth, in themselves and 
others, whether good or bad, prosperous or adverse, 
work together for their good, so that nothing can go 
wrong with them in the issue, verse 28, who are 
described by their love to God, and by their effectual 
vocation, according to his purpose, which being men- 
tioned, leads the apostle to the source and spring 
of all these and other priviliges, the everlasting love 
of God; signified by his foreknowledge of his 
people, verse 29, which is the cause of their predesti- 



218 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

nation to a conformity to the image of Christ, the 
first-born among many brethren; with which predes- 
tination, vocation, justification, and glorification are 
inseparably connected, verse 30, from all which bless- 
ings of grace it may be concluded, that God is on the 
side of such persons, who are interested in these fav- 
ors; and nothing is to be feared, but every good 
thing expected by them, verse 31; which is confirmed 
by an argument from the greater to the lesser, that if 
God has given his Son for them, he will freely give 
all things to them, verse 32; in view of which the 
apostle rises up in triumph of faith, and challenges all 
the enemies of the saints, and denies that any charge 
can be brought against them of any evil, since God 
is the Justifier of them, verse 33, or that they shall 
ever enter into condemnation, being secured from it 
by the death of Christ; and which security is yet more 
strengthened by his resurrection, session at the right 
hand of God, and intercession for them, verse 34; and 
then asks, since Christ has shown such love to them, 
by these instances of it, what can separate from it, 
verse 35, and enumerates several things which be- 
fall the saints in this life, which however mean an 
object they may render them in the esteem of men, 
don't at all abate the love of Christ to them, that such 
is their case, that they are exposed to afflictions and 
sufferings, and even death itself, for the sake of 
Christ, is proved, verse 36, by a testimony out of Psa. 
xliv. 22, and then an answer is returned to the ques- 
tion in the negative, that none of the things mention- 
ed could separate them from the love of Christ; so far 
from it, that by virtue of Christ, who had loved 
them, they were conqurers, in all these things, and 
over all their enemies, verse 37, and the chapter is 
concluded in verses 38, 39, with the full persuasion of 
of the apostle, that nothing in the whole universe, be 



PREDESTINATION. 219 

they what they may, good or bad, or which shall be, 
an inumeration of many of which is made, shall ever 
separate him, or any of the people of God, from his 
love, which is in Christ Jesus; so that upon the 
whole, notwithstanding the various afflictions which 
attend them in this world, yet in the consideration of 
the many privileges they enjoy, and the glory they 
are heirs of, they have great reason to rejoice, and 
look upon themselves to be in the most safe and hap- 
py condition." 



CHAPTER XXII. 

PREDESTINATION. 



The Epistle to the Romans IX. "The apostle having 
discoursed of justification and sanctification, and of 
the privileges of justified and sanctified ones, pro- 
ceeds to treat of predestination, the source and spring 
of all the blessings of grace; and to observe how this 
distinguishing act of God's sovereign will has taken 
place, both among Jews and Gentiles; in treating of 
which, he knew he should go contrary to the sense 
of his countrymen, Jews, whe have a notion that all 
Ierael shall have a part in, or inherit the world to 
come; and that the Gentiles will be forever miserable; 
and nothing was more disagreeable to them, than to 
talk of their rejection of God, and the calling of the 
Gentiles; wherefore, that it might be manifest that it 
was not out of pique and ill will to them, that the 
apostle said the things hereafter related, he express- 



220 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

ei the most cordinal affection to them imaginable, 
and which he introduces, in verse 1, by way of ap- 
pealing to Christ, who knew the truth of what he was 
about to say, and who could, together with the Spirit 
of God and his own conscience, testify for him that 
it was no lie; the thing he appeals for the truth of is 
in verse 2; that the salvation of the Jews lay near his 
heart; that it was no pleasure to him to think or speak 
of their rejection, but was what gave him continual 
pain, and uneasiness; his great desire for their good is 
expressed in a very strong and uncommon manner, 
verse 3; the reason of it are partly the relation they 
stood in to him, being his brethren and kinsmen; and 
partly the many privileges they had been favoured 
with of God; enumeration of which is given, verses 
4, 5; and foreseeing an objection, he prevents it, 
which might be made, that if the Jews were cast off, 
the promise of God to that people, that he would be 
their God, would become void, and the preaching of 
the Gospel of Christ to them of no effect; to which he 
answerers by distinguishing between Israel and 
Israel, or the elect of God amoung them, and those 
that were not; wherefore, though the latter are re- 
jected according to the purpose of. God, the promise 
and preaching of the word had their effect in the for- 
mer, verse 6; and that there was such a distinction, 
he proves from the two sons of Abram, Isaac and 
Ishmael, who were both Abraham's seed, yet one was 
was a child of promise, and the other a child of the 
flesh, and were emblematical of the children of the 
promise, and the children of the flesh among that 
people, verses 7, 8, 9, 10; and further confirms this by 
the instance of Jacob and Esau, who were born of the 
same parents, were twins; and yet one was in the 
favour of God, and the other not; and that this was 
owing not to works, but to the saving will of God in 



PREDESTINATION, 221 

election, he proves, by observing that this was before 
good or evil were done by either of them, verse 11, 
and that this was notified to Rebekah before, verse 
12, as appears from a passage in Gen. xxv. 23, and 
by another passage in Mai. i. 2, 3, which is cited in 
verse 13; then an objection is stated, verse 14, tha< if 
God loves one, and hates another, both being in equal 
circumstances, as Jacob and Esau were, he must be 
unrighteous; which he answers and removes, first by 
a destestation of such a charge against God, and 
then produces testimony out of the book of Moses, 
proving election, as not being the work of men, but 
of the will of God, verse 15, from Exod. xxxiii. 19; 
by which it appears that the choice of men to salva- 
tion is not according to the will of man, but accord- 
ing to the grace and love of God, verses 16, 17, 18, 19, 
20, 21, 22; where he observes the end of God in it, 
which clears him from injustice, and points at the 
patience of God towards them, which frees him from 
the charge of cruelty, verse 22, and then proceeds to 
apply the metaphor before used, to the objects of elec- 
tion, styled vessels of mercy, and the end of the Lord, 
to manifest the riches of his glory in them, and the 
method he takes to bring them to eternal happiness, 
by preparing them for it by grace, verse 23, which is 
done in effectual vocation, the object of which are 
both Jews and Gentiles, verse 24; that it is the will of 
God that the Gentiles should be called, he proves, 
verses 25, 26, from some passages in Hosea n. 23; i. 
10; and that God chose, and so would call some 
among the Jews, he clearly makes appear, v. 27, 28,29; 
and from prophecies of Isaiah xx. 22, 23; i. 10, and 
then concludes the chapter by observing the free and 
distinguishing grace of God, in the calling of the Gen- 
tiles and the justification of them by the righteous- 
ness of Christ; ^hat ^such who were far from it, and 



222 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

sought not after it, should enjoy it, verse 30, when the 
Israelites, who were diligent and zealous in seeking 
after a rightoeusness to justify them before God, yet 
did not arrive to one, verse 31, the reason of which 
are given, verse 32, because it was not the righteous- 
ness of faith, or the righteousness of Christ receiv- 
ed by faith, they sought, but a legal one, and by works 
which can never be attained by sinful men, they 
sought after a wrong righteousness, and a wrong 
way, because they stumble at Christ, and rejected 
him and his righteousness; this removes an objection 
which is suggested in the two proceding verses, that 
God is unrighteous in calling the Gentiles, who never 
sought after righteousness, and rejecting the Jews 
that followed after one; and that they did stumble at 
Christ and his righteousness is no other than what 
was foretold in Isa. vm. 14; and that whosoever be- 
lieveth in Christ whether Jew or Gentile, shall be 
saved, he suggests is a doctrine agreeable to Isa. 
xxviii. 16, which passages are refered to, verse 33." 

The Epistle to the Romans X. "In this chapter is con- 
tinued an account of the two righteousnesses of faith 
and works, a summary of the Gospel of Christ, a de- 
scription of the grace of faith, in the nature, use, and 
means of it, and several testimonies concerning the 
calling of the Gentiles; and whereas the apostle knew 
that this, as well as what he had said in the latter 
part of the preceding chapter, that the Jews had 
not attained to the law of righteousness, but stum- 
bled at the stumbling-stone, would be offencive to 
his country-men the Jews, wherefore, that it might 
appear that he said this not out of dissatisfaction and 
ill will to them, he declares his sincere regard unto 
them, and the great respect he had for them, by call- 
ing them brethren, by expressing his good will to 



PREDESTINATION, 223 

• hem, by praying for their salvation, verse 1, by bear- 
ing testimony of their zeal for God, verse 2, though 
he faithfully observs to them, that it was an ignorant 
zeal of which ignorance he gives an instance, verse 
3, particularly in the attribute cf God's righteousness 
from which ignorance arose all their misconduct in 
religious things, especially in the article of justifica- 
tion, hence they sought to be justified by their own 
righteousness, and rejected the righteousness of 
Christ, and then points out to them the true end of 
the law for righteousness, which is Christ, verse 4, 
which if they had known would have set them right, 
and which is another instance of their ignorance, and 
misguided zeal, this leads him on to what he had in 
view, which was to give an account of the two right- 
eousnesses he had suggested in the latter part of the 
former chapter, the righteousness of the law, which 
the Jews sought for and found not, and the righteous- 
ness of faith, which the Gentiles without seeking for 
enjoyed, and this account he gives in the words of 
Moses, for whom they had the greatest regard; the 
description of the former is given in his words, in 
verse 5, which suggests the impossibility of keeping 
the law; and obtaining life by it, and therefore it is 
vain to seek for righteousness by the works of it, the 
latter is described, verses 6, 7, by the certainty of it, 
being wrought out by Christ, who came down from 
heaven, fulfilled the law, died and rose again from 
the dead, and the plainness and evidence of it, as re- 
vealed in the Gospel, verse 8, the sum of which gos- 
pel is, that whosoever believes in Christ and confesses 
him, shall be saved, verse 9, which faith and con- 
fession, when genuine are with the heart and mouth 
arguing together, the consequences of which are 
righteousness and salvation, comfortably apprehend- 
ed and enjoyed, verse 10, and that the above is the 



224 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

sum of the Gospel, and that there is such a connec- 
tion between faith and righteousness, and between 
confession and salvation is, confirmed, verse 11, by a 
testimony from the prophet Isarah, xxvm. 16, which 
being expressed in such general manner, as to extend 
to every believer, whether Jew or Gentile, reasons 
are given, verse 12, in support of such an explanation 
of that passage taken from the equal condition of all, 
there being no difference between them naturall, from 
the universal dominion of God over them, and from 
his liberal communication of grace and goodness to 
all that call upon him, which last reason is confirmed 
verse 13, by a passage of Scripture in Joel. II. 32, an 
occasion of which the apostle proceeds to treat of the 
calling of the Gentiles, and of the meaning of it, the 
preaching of the Gospel, which was necessary to it; 
which is made out by a train of reasoning after this 
manner; that seeing salvation is only of such that 
call upon the name of the Lord, and there could be 
no calling upon him without believing in him, no be- 
leiving without hearing, and no hearing without 
preaching, and no preaching without mission, which 
is proved by a citation out of Isa. lii. 7, and no suc- 
cess in preaching, when sent without the exertions of 
efficacious grace, as appears in the case of the Jews, 
'who had the ministration of the Gospel to them by 
Isaiah, and yet did not believe it, as is evident from 
Isa. liii. 1, and seeing the conclusion of which is, 
that faith comes by preaching and preaching by the 
order and command of God, verses 14, 15, 16, 17, it 
follows, that it was proper ministers should be sent 
and the Gospel preached to the Gentiles, and that at- 
tended with power, in order that they should believe 
in the Lord, and call upon his name and be saved, 
which method God had taken, and which he had fore- 
told he would take in the prophecies of the Old Test- 



PREDESTINATION, 225 

ament an 1 which were now fulfilling; that the Gos- 
pel was preached to them and they heard it, were 
matters of fact, and weie no other than what should 
be, or might be concluded, from Psa, xix. 4, cited 
verse 18, and that the Jews could not be ignorant of 
the calling of the Gentiles is clear, first from the 
words of Moses, Deut. xxxn. 21, which the apostle 
produces, verse 19, and from a passage in the prophe- 
cy of Isaiah, chap. xlv. 1. So this was no other than 
what Moses and the prophets said should be, verse 20 
and the chapter is concluded, verse 21, with another 
passage out of the same prophet in the next verse, 
showing the rejection of Christ and the Gospel by the 
Jews, which justifies their being cast off by him, of 
which the apostle treats largely in the next chapter." 

The Epistle to the Romans XI. "The apostle having 
spoken of the calling of the Gentiles and giving a 
hint of the perverseness of the Jews, in rejecting the 
Gospel, proceeds in this chapter to treat of their re- 
jection, in which he shows that it was not universal, 
though of the greater part of them; which he con- 
firms by some passages out of the old Testament, and 
then points at the end and design of God in the cast- 
ing them off; and resolves the whole dispensation of 
God, both with respect to Jews and Gentiles into the 
unsearchable wisdom and sovereign will of God, and 
concludes this chapter, with the declaration: For 
God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might 
have mercy upon all, verse 32, both Jews and Gen- 
tiles, particularly God's elect among them. Both 
Jews and Gentiles are represented as prisoners in 
the prison of unbelief. First the Gentiles and now 
the Jews, and he does not yet deliver them out of it, 
or say to the prisoners go forth. Moreover to con- 
clude in unbelief, is the same as to be concluded un- 

15 



226' FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

der sin, Gal. in. 22, that is, to be thourou^hly convict- 
ed of sin; to be held and bound down by such a sense 
of it in their conscience, as toseenowayof escape 
from deserved punishment, or to obtain salvation,, 
but by fleeing to the mercy of God in Christ. ' r 

"That he might have mercy upon all; not upon all 
the individual Jews and Gentiles; for all are not con- 
concluded in, or convicted of their sins, but convicted 
sinners, and designs all of God's elect, whether Jews 
or Gentiles, verse 33. O the depths of the riches, both 
of the wisdom and knowledge of God; how unsearch- 
able are his judgments, and his ways past finding out.' r 

The Epistfe to the Romans XI. 34 — 36 For who hath 
known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his 
counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and 
it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him r 
and though him and to him are all things: to whom 
be glory forever. Amen.' r 

The Epistfe to the Romans XII. "The doctrines concern- 
ing predestination, justification, &c, being establish- 
ed, the duties of religion are built upon them, and be- 
lievers enforced by them in this and the following 
chapters. The apostle first exhorts all the members 
of the church in common to a regard to the worship 
of God, in opposition to the things of the world; and 
then the officers of the church particularly, to the 
discharge of their duty, and next all of them, both 
officers and members, to the performance of various 
duties respecting God, themselves, one another and 
men of the world. The duty of attending public 
worship, is first mentioned, signified by a presenta- 
tion of their bodies to the Lord, verse 1, to which 
they are moved, partly by the plenteousness, mercy 
and goodness of God to them, and partly by the ac 
ceptableness of it to God; as also the reasonableness 



exhortation; faith. 227 

of the thing, then follows a dehoration from comfor- 
anity to the world, the men and manners of it in sup- 
erstition and will-worship, &c,' 7 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

exhortations; faith, 

1 Corinthians. "The matter of this epistle is vari- 
ous. The apostle first rebukes them for their schemes 
and divisions; suggests that their regard to the wis- 
dom of men and the philosophies of the Gentiles had 
brought the simplicity of the Gospel into contempt 
with them, blames them for their conduct in the case 
of the incestuous person, and urges them to put him 
away from them, reproves them for going to law with 
one another before heathen magistrates and warmly 
inveighs against fornication, answers several ques- 
tions concerning marriages, treats of things offered 
to idols, and of the maintainance of ministers, and 
dehorts from idolatry, and all appearance of it, takes 
notice of the unbecoming conduct of the members of 
the church at the Lord's supper, and discources con- 
cerning the nature and vice of spiritual gifts, com- 
mends charity among them, observes and corrects 
some irregularities in the use of their gifts, proves by 
various arguments the doctrine of the resurrection of 
the dead which some of them denied, exhorts to a col- 
lection for the poor saints, and two several other 
things, and concludes the epistle with the salutation of 
others and himself," 



.228 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

2 Corinthians. "The occasion of this epistle was 
partly to excuse his not coming to them according to 
promise, and to vindicate himself from the charge of 
unfaithfulness, levity and inconstancy on that ac- 
count, and partly since what he wrote ahout the in- 
cestuous persons had had a good effect both upon him 
and them, to direct them to take off the censure that 
had been laid upon him, and restore him to their 
communion, and comfort him, likewise to stir them 
up to finish the collection for the poor saints they 
had begun, as also to defend himself against the cal- 
umnies of false teachers, who were very industrious 
to sink his credit in this church, which he does by 
observing the doctrine of the Gospel he preached, 
which were far more glorious than, and abundantlj 
preferable to, the law of Moses, which those men de- 
sire to be teachers of, as likewise the success of his 
ministry in every place, the many sufferings he had 
undergone for the sake of Christ and his Gospel!, 
the high favors he had received of the Lord, as well 
as signs, wonders and miracles done by him in proof 
of his apostleship; and in which are interspersed 
many things useful and instructive." 

Galatians. "The occasion and design of this epis- 
tle was to vindicate the character of the apostle as 
such, to establish the true doctrine of justification by 
faith, in opposition to the works of the law, to re- 
cover those who were carried away with other doc- 
trine, to exhort the saints to stand fast in the liberty 
of Christ, and to various other duties of religion and 
to give a true description of the false teachers, and 
their views, so that they might be aware of them and 
their principles.'' 

Galatians UK 22=25. But the Scripture hath conclud- 
ed all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus 

16a 



OTHER APOSTOLIC WRITINGS. 22^ 

Christ might; be given to them that believe. But be- 
fore faith came we were kept under the law, shut up 
unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us 
unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. But 
after that faith is come, we are no longer under a 
schoolmaster. 

Read the above carefully. It is not be- 
fore we went after faith, nor is it before we exercis- 
ed faith, but the plain reading is, before faith came. 
Faith was something outside of us, something that 
abode elsewhere; in short, it was something that was 
sent from God to take possession of us. When the 
law had covicted us of sin it brought us to Christ that 
we might be justified by faith. When we were in the 
household of sin, Christ adopted us by his grace, 
then he convicted us and brought us thence by the 
law and claimed us by faith. For by grace are ye 
saved Jhrough faith and that not of yourselves: it is 
the gift of God, Eph. il 8, 



CHAPTER XXIV, 

OTHER APOSTOLIC WRITINGS. 

Ephisiaas. "The occasion of this epistle, was the 
foresight the apostle had of false teachers that would 
spring up in this church, after his death, and spread 
their pernicious doctrine and draw away diciples af- 
ter them, and do great mischief in the church; where 
fore the design of this epistle is to establish the saints 



23Q FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

in the doctrines of the Gospel, so that they might not 
be carried away with the errors of the wicked; the 
subject-matter of it is most excellent, it treats of the 
most sublime doctrines of grace, of divine predestina- 
tion, and eternal election, of redemption by Christ r 
and of peace and pardon by his blood, of conversion 
by the power of efficacious grace and of salvation by 
the free grace of God, in opposition to works; it also 
very largely treats of the usefulness of the Gospel 
ministry, and gifts and qualification for it, and of the 
several duties of religion incumbent on Christians; 
the method which is used is exceeding apt and beauti- 
ful, fnr the apostle first begins with the doctrines of 
the Gospel, which he distinctly handles and explains, 
and then proceeds to enforce the duties belonging to 
men, both as men and Christians." 

Phifippians. "The Philippians to whom the apos- 
tle was very dear, he being the first preacher of the 
Gospel to them, and the instrument of their 
conversion, hearing that he was in pris- 
on at Rome, sent their minister and pastor Epaphro- 
dites to him, to visit him, and by him a present, to 
support him under his afflicted circumstances, and 
who related to him the case of this church; and at 
his departure he sent by him this letter; the design of 
which is to express his love and affection to them; to 
give them an account of his bonds f and usefulness of 
them and how he was supported under them; and to 
encourage them under all the afflictions and persecu- 
tions they endure for the sake of Christ, to excite 
them to love and peace, among themselves, to caution 
them against false teachers, Judaizing Christians, 
that were for joining Moses and Christ, law and Gos- 
pel, works and grace together^ in the business of sal- 
vation: and to exhort to holy life and conversation 



OTHER AP )8TOLTC WAITINGS. 231 

and to return thanks for their kind present." 

Colossians. "The occasion of this epistle was this; 
Epaphros who had pieached the Gospel to the Colos- 
sian, and very likely was the first that did, came to 
Rome, where Paul was a prisoner, and gave him an 
account of them, how they had heard and received 
the Gospel, and of their faith in Christ, and love to 
the saints; and also declared to him what danger 
they were in through some false teachers that had 
got among them, who were for introducing the phi- 
losophy of the Gentiles, the ceremonies of the law of 
Moses, and some pernicious tenets of the followers 
of Simon Magus, and the Gnostics; upon which the 
apostle wrote this epistle to them, to confirm them 
in the faith of the Gospel Epahras had preached unto 
them, which was the same he had himself preached; 
and to warn them against those bad men and their 
principles; and to exhort them to a discharge of their 
duty to God, and men and one another." 

First Thessalonians. "Here the apostle came after 
he had been at Philippi, and stayed about three weeks, 
and preached every Sabbath day, and his ministry 
was blessed, to the conversion of some Jews, a multi- 
tude of devout Greeks, and many of the chief women 
of the place, which laid the foundation of a Gospel 
church; to which the apostle wrote this epistle, and 
is the first epistle he wrote; the occasion of it was 
this: the unbelieving Jews, vexed to see the apostle's 
success, raised a mob of the baser sort of ppople, and 
assaulted the house of Jason, where the apostle and 
his companions were; but Paul and Silas were sent 
away by night to Berea, which the rabble understand- 
ing, followed them thither; when Paul was sent as if 
going to the sea;but was conducted by the brethren to 
Athens, who gave orders that Silas and Timothy 



2H2 FOOTSTEPS OF THK FLOCK. 

should come to him with all speed, as they did; and 
Timothy was sent back to Thessalonica, to establish 
and comfort the young converts there; and returning 
with good news of their faith and charity, to the 
apostle at Corinth, he sent from thence this epistle; 
the design of which is to encourage them under their 
afflictions, and sufferings; to exhort them to stand 
fast in the Lord, to abide by his truths and ordinances, 
and to live an holy life and conversation, and to re- 
gard the several duties of religion, towards God and 
one another, and those who were set over them; and 
in it he instructs them concerning the resurrection of 
the dead, and the coming of Christ; articles of very 
great importance and concern/' 

Second Thessalonians. ''The design of this epistle is 
to comfort and support the Thessalonians under the 
afflictions and persecutions they endure for the sake 
of the Gospel, and to rectify a mistake they had gone 
into, and which might be occasioned by what the 
the apostle had said in his former epistle, concerning 
the second coming of Christ, as though it was just at 
hand; which might lead them to neglect their world- 
ly business, and duties of civil life, and give the ene- 
mies of the Gospel an advantage against the whole 
as false, should not this prove true; as also to exhort 
this church, to take notice of disorderly persons, such 
as were idle, and busy-bodies, and withdraw from 
them, and remove them from their communion, being 
burdensome and a reproach to their profession." 

First Timothy. "Timothy, to whom this epistle is 
written, was eminent for his early piety and acquaint- 
ance with the sacred Scriptures; his mother was a 
Jewess and his father a Greek, which was the reason 
why he was not circumcised in his infancy. Mention 
is made in the second epistle of his mother Eunice, 



OTHER APOSTOLIC WRITING. 233 

and his grand-mother Lois, as believers, and of his 
knowledge of the Scriptures from a child; this excel- 
lent person the apostle meeting at Lystra, and hav- 
ing a good report of him from the brethren there, he 
chose him to be his companion in his travels, and to 
assist him in spreading the Gospel; and knowing 
that it would be very disagreeable to the Jews to 
hear the word of God from the lips of an uncircum- 
cised person, took him and circumcised him; becom- 
ing all things to all, that he might gain some. This 
being done, he went along with him into several 
parts, and he made great use of him, in preaching 
the word, planting churches, and writing epistles; he 
sent him to various places; with messages from him 
to Corinth, Philippi, and Thessalonica; and now had 
left him at Ephesus, where he besought him to abide 
for awhile; for that he was the bishop, pastor, or 
overseer of that church is not likely, since his resi- 
dence there was not* constant, and was afterwards 
called away from hence by the apostle, who desired 
his stay there, under whom, and by whose direction 
he acted, whilst there; and seeing that this church 
had elders, bishops, or overseers, whom the Holy 
Ghost had set over them, whom the apostle called 
to him at Miletus, ani gave them some advice and in- 
struction. The design of Timothy's continuance there 
was to check growing errors and heresies, and to take 
care of an d preserve the discipline of God's house; and 
to charge him with these things was the design of 
this epistle; in which he teaches him how to behave 
himself in the church of God; by taking heed to 
this doctrine and conversation; and gives rules relat- 
ing to the qualifications of bishops and deacons, and 
to the care of widows, and with regard to church 
censures, and the becoming walk and conversation 



234 FOOTSTEPS OP THE FLOCK. 

of all sorts of persons, of every office, a^e, sex, rank an 1 
order." 

Second Timothy. "The design of this epistle was to 
stir up Timothy to the faithful and diligent dis 
charge of his duty, as a minister of the Gospel; to 
abide constantly by the truth of it; and to animate 
him to suffer patiently, cheerfully and courageously, 
for the sake of it; and to warn him against false 
teachers, and their errors, who were already risen, and 
would afterwards arise and be followed by those who 
had itching ears, and could not bear sound doctrine; 
but this should be no discouragement to him in the 
prosecution of his work; and lastly, to desire his pres- 
ence with him at Rome, being now destitute of his 
several assistants." 

Titus. "The occasion of this epistle was, partly, 
the Judaizing preachers, and false teachers, that got 
into that island, and were corrupting the principles 
of the people; and partly the unbecoming conversa- 
tion and practices of some professors of leligion; and 
whereas the apostle had left Titus in Crete, to finish 
what he had begun, and to put the churches in order, 
and see that they had proper officers, particularly 
pastors over them, that they might be taken care of, 
both with respect to doctrine and practice; the design 
of this epistle is to lay before Titus the several quali- 
fications of a pastor, which might be an instruction to 
him, and to the churches in the choice and ordina- 
tion of them; and to stir him up to zeal and diligence 
in refusing false teachers, and dealing with heretics; 
and to put him upon exhorting the saints to the dis- 
charge of their duty, in every branch of it, from the 
best principles, by arguments taken from the grace 
of God, and the doctrines of it." 



OTHER APOSTOLIC WRITINGS. 235 

Philemon. '-The design of this epistle is to recon- 
cile Philemon to his servant, and to entreat 
him to receive him again, not only 
as a servant, but as a brother in Christ; and 
the most proper and prudent methods and 
arguments are used to engage him to it. The epistle, 
though it is a short one, is very instructive; it shows 
great humility in the apostle, and that he did not 
think it below him, to be concerned in doing such an 
office as to reconcile a master to his servant, and 
which is worthy of imitation; as also it teaches the 
right that the masters have over their servants, 
which is not lost by their becoming Christians and 
even ministers of the Gospel; and that recompense 
should be made unto them for injuries done by them; 
it likewise displays the riches of the grace of God, in 
the conversion of such a vile creature; and the won* 
derful providence of God in overruling that which 
was sinful in itself, running away from his master,to 
the greatest good, were the conversion of him, and is 
an instance of surprising grace; and from hence may 
be learned, that there is salvation in Christ for the 
chief of sinners; that the conversion of them is not 
dispaired of." 

Hebrews."The occasion of this epistle is to set forth 
the superior excellency of Christ to angel and men, to 
Moses, to Joshua; to Aaron, and his sons, and the 
pref erableness of his priesthood and sacrifice to the 
Levitical priesthood and its sacrifices; to teach the 
Hebrews, the true knowledge of the mysteries of the 
law;to pointout to them the design, use, and abrogation 
of its ceremonies;and to prepare them for what afflic- 
tions and persecutions they would be called to endure 
for Christ; and exhort them to perseverance, and 
strengthen them against apostacy as well as to in- 



230 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

struct them in the various duties of religion." 

The General Epistle of James. "This epistle is called gener- 
al, because not written to any particular person, as 
the epistles to Timothy, Titus and Philemon are; nor 
to any particular churches as the epistles to the Ro- 
mans, Corrinthians, &c, but to the believing Jews in 
general, wherever they were. The occasions of it 
seems to be partly the troubles and persecutions 
which attended the saints of Christ for the Gospel; 
and the design of it, to encourage them to patience 
under them, and to wait and hope for the speedy com- 
ing of Christ; and partly the evil practices of some 
that boasted of their faith and knowledge, though 
they lived very dissolute lives; and the view of the 
apostle it to show, that faith without the fruits of 
righteousness, is not genuine; and he very largely in 
it, exhorts to several duties very becoming Chris- 
tians, and inveighs against several vices, which were 
scandalous in them." 

First General Epistle of Peter. "The occasion of writ- 
ing this epistle was, Peter meeting with Sylvanus, a 
faithful brother, who had been a companion of the 
apostle Paul; he takes this opportunity of sending a 
letter by him to the converted Jews dispersed among 
the Gentile countries, where he, with Paul, and others, 
traveled; the design of which is to testify of the true 
doctrine of Grace, in which they were agreed ;see ch. 
v. 12. And accordingly in it he does treat of the doc- 
trine of electing grace, of redeeming grace, of regen- 
erating and sanctifying grace and of persevering 
grace; and exhorts believers te the exercise of grace, 
of faith, hope and love, and to the discharge of such 
duties, becoming their several stations, whereby they 
might evidence to others the truth of grace in them- 
selves, and adormthe doctrine of God, and recbm- 



OTHER APOSTOLIC WRfTINGS. 237 

mend it. to others; and particularly he exhorts th Q m 
patiently to bear all afflictions and persecutions, they 
should meet with, for their profession of the true grace 
of God, in which he encourages them to stand fast." 

Second General Epistle of Peter. "This epistle was writ- 
ten by the apostle in his old age, when upon the de- 
cline of life, just as he was about to put off his taber- 
nacle, eh. i. 13, 14, 15, a little before his 
martyrdom, in the year 68; and it is sent to 
the same persons, as his first, namely, the be- 
lieving Jews scattered throughout the sev- 
eral parts of Asia, he being the minister of the cir- 
cumcission; see 1 Peter i. 1. compared with 2 Peter 
in. 1. The scope and design of it are, to put them 
upon a concern for a large increase of grace and 
spiritual knowledge; to confirm and establsh them 
in the present truths of the gospel; to warn them 
against false teachers, which he largely describes; 
and he put them in mind of the dissolution of all 
things, and of what will preceed and follow it; from 
whence he draws several useful hints and inferences." 

The Fist General Epistle of John. "It is called his first 
epistle general, not that it is the first epistle, the 
other two are written to particular persons, but is the 
first he wrote, which is general; the occasion and 
manifest design of it is to premote brotherly love, 
which he enforces upon the best of principles, and 
with the strongest arguments, taken from the love of 
God and Christ, from the commandment of Christ, 
and its being an evidence of regeneration, and the 
truth and glory of a prof ession of religion; and also 
to oppose and stop the growth of licentious principles 
and practices, and heretical doctrines. The licentious 
principles and practices he condemns are these, that 
believers had no sin in them, or need not be concern- 



238 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

ed about it, nor about their outward conversation, so 
be they had but knowledge; and these men boasted 
of their communion with God, not withstanding their 
impieties, which were the sentiments and practices 
of the Nicholiatians, Gnostics, and Carpooratian?. 
The heresies he sets himself against, and refutes, 
are such as regard the doctrine of the Trinity, and 
the person and office of Christ. There were some 
who denied a distinction of persons in the Trinity, 
and asserted tbere was but one person; that the Fath- 
er was not distinct from the Son, nor the Son from 
the Father; and by confounding both tacitly denied 
that there was either, as Simon Magus and his fol- 
lowers; regard is had to these in chap. n. 22; chap. v. 
7; and others, as the unbelieving Jews, who denied 
that Jesus was the Messiah, or that Christ was come 
in the flesh; these are taken notice of in chap. n. 22; 
chap, iv, 2, 3. Others that professed to believe in 
Jesus Christ, denied his proper deity, and asserted he 
was a mere man, and did not exist before he took flesh 
of the virgin, as Ebion and Cerinthus;these are opposed 
in chap. i. 1, 2; chap. in. 16, 20. And others denied 
his real humanity, and affirmed that he was a mere 
phantom, that he had the appearance of a man, and 
assumed human nature, and suffered and died and 
rose again in show only, and not in reality; of which 
sort were the followers of Saturanius and Basilius,and 
which are confuted, chap. i. 1, 2, 3." 

Second Epistle of Jrnin. "The design of this epistle 
is to exhort and encourage the lady he writes to, to 
continue in the truth and faith of the Gospel, and in 
the love of God and his people, and to avoid false 
teachers and their doctrines." 

Third Epistle of John. "This epistle was written by 
the Apostle John, who calls himself an elder, as in 



OTHKR APOSTOLIC WRITINGS 230 

t\ ) preceding, an 1 is inscribed to a friend of hi?, 
whom he mentioned by name, and expresses a very 
great affection for, on account of his steady adher- 
ance to the truth of the Gospel, verse 1; he wishes 
him bodily health, equal to that prosperity of soul he 
was indulged with, verse 2; congratulates him upon 
the testiomony the brethren that came from him gave 
him, of the truth being in him, being in the truth, 
and of his walking in it, and upon hearing that his 
children also trod in the same path, verses 3, 4; com- 
mends him for his hospitality and charity, of which 
testimonies were given before the church and encour- 
ages him to go on doing the same acts of beneficence, 
since it was such persons that went forth 
for the sake of Christ, and preaching in his name, 
and had nothing of the Gentiles for so doing, where- 
fore they ought to be ready to be resigned and enter- 
tained by those of ability, that they might be fellow- 
helpers to the truth with them, verses 5, 6, 7, 8. He 
complains of Diotrephes as a proud, haughty and 
overbearing man in the church, where Gaius was a 
member, who would neither receive the letters the 
apostles sent, nor the brethren that came with them; 
nay, forbid them that would, and <?ast them out of 
the church for it, and prated against them with mal- 
icious words, whom he threatened to remember when 
he himself should come thither, verses 9, 10, where- 
fore he exhorts Gaius not to follow such an ill exam- 
ple, but that which is good in any person, since he 
that does good appears to be of God, and he that does 
evil, it looks as if he never knew him, verse 11. And 
particularly recommends Demetrius, who had a good 
report of all men, and of the truth itself, and had a 
testimony from the apostle; and those that were with 
him, which was known to be a true one, verse 12. 
But though he had many things to say, both of one 



210 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

and of the other, he determines to write no more at; 
present, hoping he should shortly see him. and per- 
sonally converse together, and closes the epistle with 
mutual salutations of friends, verses 13, 14." 

General Epistle of Jude. "This epistle is called, catho- 
lic or general, because it is not written to any partic- 
ular person or church, but to the saints in general, 
and it may be to the same persons that Peter wrote 
his, see 1 Peter I. 1, who seem to be the believers a- 
mong the Jews, see verses 5, 17; the design of the ap- 
ostle is both to exhort them to continue in the faith 
and contend for it, and describe false teachers and 
point out their principles and practices, and the 
dreadful end, so they might shun and avoid them." 

Revelations. "This book is certainly of divine 
authority, and exceedingly useful and instructive 
and contains in it the most mementous and impor- 
tant doctrines of the Gospel, concerning a Trinity of 
persons in the Godhead, the deity and sonship of 
Christ, the divinity and personalty of the spirit, the 
offices of Christ, the state and condition of man by 
nature, justification, pardon and reconciliation by 
the blood of Christ, and it recommends the several 
duties of religion, and encourages to the exercise of 
every grace, and gives a very particular account of 
the rise, power and fall of antichrist, and of the state 
of the church in all the periods of time to the end of 
the world. And though it is written in an uncom- 
mon style, yet may be understood by the use of prop - 
er means, as prayer and meditation, by compari ng 
it with other prophetic writings, and the history of 
past times by which many things will appear to have 
had their fulfilment; and it ought to be observed, 
that it is a revelation, and not a hidden thing; th at 
it is not a sealed book, but an open one; and such a re 



FIRST CKTvTURY AFTER CHRIST, 241 

pronounced blessed who read and hear it and observe 
all things in it." 



CHAPTER XXV. 

FIRST CENTURY AFTER CHRIST. 

I now propose to give a history of the people of 
God, during the Dark Ages; relying principally upon 
the history of the Church of Christ, written by the 
Rev. T. Hawies, L. L. B. & M. D, Chaplain to the 
late Countess of Huntingdon, and Rector of All 
Saints, Aldwinckie, Northamptonshire and published 
July 10, 1799." 

Chapter I. "We are stepping from the blaze of 
day into the regions of doubt and twilight. The mo- 
ment we quit the oracles of truth, we are left to grope 
oar way through the public glimmerings of works 
which have been handed down through a succession 
of ages, whose authenticity has been disputed by 
some, and which by more, have been charged 
with interpolations, these, with traditronary re- 
ports, suspicious on account of the distorted medium 
through which they have passed, leave us under the 
necessity of treading every step with caution, exam- 
ining with care, and as far as I can trust my con- 
victions, obliged me oftener to doubt than believe. 
It seems clear, by generally admitted evidence, that 
the Church of Christ had widly spread its conquest, 
and continued in a constant rapidly progressive state 
nor had as hitherto, suffered any general per- 

16 



242 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

ecutlon from the Roman government. Probably 
the poverty of the priviate Christians was their 
protection as affording little for the gratifications of 
avariace. They were also at first confounded with 
the Jews, who enjoyed perfect toleration. They ex- 
cited also the less, the attention of government as be- 
ing of the lower order of men, not many noble being 
called. Hence they were scarcely even noticed by 
any author of that day. And when they are first 
mentioned, the account given of them shows how 
little acquaintance was gained of their character. 
The report of the Roman historian contains only the 
malignant abuse of ignorant slander. The greatest 
number of Christians were in the cities, though 
they spread also into the adjacent villages. But 
their assemblies in any place at first could not have 
been very numerous, except at Jerusalem, as a sin- 
gle room in a private house contained them. They 
continued to increase through the indefatigable la- 
bours of the itinerant evangelist, and by the zeal of 
many others, excited to activity in their several 
spheres, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God to 
all around them. No sooner had Paul escaped out 
of thp mouth of the lion, Nero, than he probably vis- 
ited the churches, as his apostles intimated he intend- 
ed to do. Returning again to Rome, where as a pris- 
oner of state, or seized on, during a visit to that 
church, he is supposed to have fallen in the first great 
massacre of the Christians under that bloody tyrant. 
This monster, having for a while through the in- 
fluence of his tutor, Serecia,given hopes of his judge- 
ment, degenerated by degrees into the basest of be- 
ings and cruelest of men. A vast conflagration at 
Rome in the tenth year of his reign, said to be kin- 
dled by his own order, for the pleasure of gazing 
on the desolation wh:*ch the flames would make, ir- 



THE FIRTS CENTURY AFTER CHRIST. 243 

ritating the Roman people, he endeavored to excul- 
pate himself by casting the odium on the innocent 
Christians. The account of the historian Tacitus, 
howerer his own prejedices therein appear, affords a 
most valuable material for our history. Speaking of 
Nero, and the conflagration of Rome, he says, To di- 
vert suspicion from himself, he substituted ficticious 
criminals, and with this in view, he inflicted the most 
exquisite tortures on those men who under the vul- 
gal name of Christians were already branded with 
deserved infamy. They derived their name and 
origin from Christ, who in the reign of Tebinus, had 
suffered death by the sentance of the procuarator, 
Ponteus Pilate. For a while this dire superstition was 
checked, but it again burst forth, and not only spread 
itself over Judea, the first seat of this mischievous 
sect, but was even introduced into Rome, the common 
asylum, which receives and protects whatever is 
impure and atrocious. The confessions of those who 
were seized, discovered a great multitude of these ac- 
complitives, and they were all convicted, not so much 
for the crime of setting to fire the city, as for their 
hatred of human kind. They died in torments, and 
there were embittered by insult and derision. Some 
were nailed on crosses, others sown up in skins of 
wild beasts, and exposed to the fury of dogs, others 
again smeared over with combustible materials, were 
used as torches to illuminate the darkness of the night 
The gardens of Nero were destined for the melan- 
choly spectacle, which was accompanied by a horse 
race and honoured with the presence of the Emper- 
or, who mingled with the populace in the dress and 
attitude of a charioter. The guilt of the Christians 
deserved indeed the most exemplary punishment but 
the public abhor ance, was changed into commisera- 
tion, from the opinion these unhappy wretches were 



244 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

sacrificed not so much to the rigor of justice, as ths 
cruelty of the jealous tyrant." 

We cannot read this account without being struck: 
with the multiplied and horrible executions, made of 
these innocent but devoted victims. Indeed, dying 
under such abhorrance and general odium, as a sect 
mischievous, impure,atrocious, branded with deserv- 
ed infamy, their guilt called for the most exemplary 
punishment ':; it was impossible that the arm of ven- 
gence should not be lifted up over them. I am amazed 
any man can admit the truth of these persecutors a- 
gainst them, and afterwards suppose as Gibbon does 
that the executions were inconsiderable. 

''The edicts of Nero against Che Christians, lying 
under such imputations, and standing convicted in 
the eyes of their enemies of every charge laid against 
them, could not but put the magistrates into vigor- 
ous executions. The objects were so generally and 
deeply abhorred, the Emporer so insensed against 
them, the order so precious, and his own example so 
strongly before their eyes, that every man to whom 
the charge was given, must consider their activity a 
recommendation to his favour. Nothing can be more 
disengenuous and contrary to every fair deduction of 
reason, than Mr. Gibbon's representation of this mat- 
ter. A self-inflicted death delivered the world from 
the monster and the Christians from this bloody seige 
The short and terbulant reigns of his successors, 
Galba, Otho, and Vitellius kept the Romans too 
occupied in their own quarrels to attend to the rising 
sect. This interval of peace gave the Christians a res- 
pite from their sufferings, and time to prepare for the 
future, An. 68, 69. 

$ An. S. 70. The destruction of Jerusalem, and the 
utter submission of the Jewish polity under Titus, 

6a 



THE FIRST CENTURY AFTER CHRIST. 245 

is among the memorable events clearly foretold and 
awfully verified. The Christians conscious of the ap- 
proaching catastrophe, and it is said, particularly 
warned of God to removed from the devoted city, 
fled to Pella, and escaped from destruction. 

An. I. 81=95. During the preceeding reigns, we have 
no particular accounts of the suffering church, prob- 
ably the fires of persecution went out; but under the 
second Nero, Domitian, the brother and successor of 
Titus, it raged with redoubled fury. By him it is 
thought the apostle John was sent into banishment 
at Patmos; and in the East where he abode, the 
Christians were exposed to all the miseries which 
malignant hatred and arbitrary power can inflict on 
helpless innocence. Yet did the circle of Christiani- 
ty extend to every side, and the blood of the maityis 
proved a blessed seed, productive of more abunrh nt 
fruits. 

An. I. 96. Nerva is said to have suspended e 
sanguinary edict of his predecessor, and after a short, 
reign of two years, the government (An. 98) devolve d 
upon Trajan, the frend of Pliny, and esteemed the 
most humane and excellent of all Roman Emperor . 
Yet in him we have one of the most authentic monu- 
ments of the fearfully suffering state of the Christian 
world. When such men as Trajan and Pliny, fan:< d 
for mildness, prudence, and philosophy, display a 
spirit so very opposite to their pretentions, what 
must have been the case in general ? To those who 
know the true principles of Christianity, and the na- 
ture of proud unhumbled man, the explanation is not 
difficult, why Trajan should be as persecuting as Nero 
and. though in a way less apparently savage, with an 
enmity more rooted, and with perseverance more 
obdurate; to make the obstinacy of Christianity bow 



246 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

to his imperial mandates, or be crushed by the weight 
of his indignation. The ingenious Pliny had been 
appointed by Trajan to the government of Bythinia; 
and in the exercise of his office as proconsul, the 
Christians, against whom the severity of the preced- 
ing edicts evidently subsisted, were brought before 
his tribunal. Not having had occasion to be present 
at any such examinations before, the multitude of 
criminals, and the severity of the laws against them, 
seem to have greatly struck him; and caused him to 
hesitate how far he ought to carry them into execu- 
tion, without first consulting the Emperor himself; 
who I think, had put him on the persuit;having prob- 
ably heard of the rapid progress of Christianity and 
embittered by all his prejudices against it, which the 
misrepresentation of its enemies, the contempt of: he 
wise, the craft of the priesthood, and the general 
odium of all idolaters, could but have propagated. 
A translation of the letter itself, will throw moie light 
upon the state of the Church, than perhaps any mon- 
ument of antiquity which has reached us. Of the 
genuineness of the letters of Clement, Ignatius and 
Polycarp, there are doubts; though perhaps un- 
founded; of the letters of Pliny and Trajan there is 
no doubt; and being the testimony of an enemy, it af- 
forded the most irrefragable proof. We may safely 
conclude, Bythinia was not singular for the number 
of convicts, or the spirit of persecution; and if such 
means as the philosophical Pliny employed against 
Christianity, were only repeated through the govern- 
ments of Asia, the number of victims may easily be 
conceived. 

A. D. 107, "C. Pliney to the Emperor Trajan, 
wishes health. 

It is usual with me to consult you in every mat- 
ter wherein I am in doubt, and to submit to your de- 



FIRST CKNTURY AFTtiR CHRIST. 247 

termination; for who better than yourself can direct 
me when uninformed? Till now I never had occa- 
sion to be present at any criminal process against 
the Christians; I am ignorant therefore to what ex- 
tent it is usual to inflict punishment, or urge prose- 
cution. I have much hesitated also, wheter there 
should not be some distinction made between the 
young and the old; and in application of the torture, 
whether there should not be a difference between the 
robust and the delicate, whether pardon should not be 
offered to penitents; or whether an openly professing 
Christian shall be allowed to retract, in order to es- 
cape punishment; whether the the profession itself is 
to be. regarded as a crime, however innocent in other 
respects the professor may be, or whether the crime 
attached to the name, must be proved, before they 
are liable to suffer. In the interval, my method with 
Christians who have been impeached as such, has 
been this; I interogate them, Are you Christians? 
they answer it, I ask the same question a second and 
a third time, threatening them with the punishment 
decreed by the law; if they still presist I order them 
executed on the spot; for whatever their profession 
of religion might be, I had not the least doubt that 
such perverseness, and inflexible obstinacy, certain! v 
should be punished. There were others infested with 
this madness, who, being Roman citizens, I ad judged, 
to be transported to Rome for your immediate cogni- 
zance. In the discussion of this matter, accusations 
multiplying, a diversity of cases occurred. A sched- 
ule of names was sent me by an unknown accuser; 
but when I cited the persons, many denied the fact, 
that they were or ever had been Christians; and re- 
peating after me the usual fomula, addressed the 
gods, and offered supplication with wine and frank- 
incense to your image, which with the statues of 



248 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

other deities, I had ordered to be procured, adding 
their maledictions of Christ, to which no real Chris- 
tians, I am assured, by any torments could be com- 
pelled. These therefore, I thought proper to dis- 
charge. Others, named by an informant, at first ac- 
knowledged themselves Christians, and denied it;pre- 
tending, that though they had been such, they had 
renounced the profession, some for three years, others 
for a longer time, and a few for more than twenty. 
All these adored your image and the statues of the 
gods, and at the same time called Christ an accursed 
object. From their affirmations I learned, that the 
sum of all their offences, call it fault or error, was, 
that on a day fixed, they used to assemble before sun- 
rise and sing together, in alternate responses, hymns 
to Christ, as a deity;binding themselves by the solemn 
engagement of an oath, not to commit any manner 
of wickedness; to be guilty neither of theft, nor rob- 
bery, nor adultery; never to break a promise, or keep 
back a deposite, when called upon. This service be- 
ing concluded, it was their custom to separate, and 
meet together again for a repast, promiscuous indeed, 
without any distinction of rank or sex, but perfectly 
harmless; and even from this they had desisted, since 
the publication of my edict, forbidding, according to 
your orders, all clubs and associations. For further 
information, I thought it necessary, in order to come 
at the truth, to put two damsels, who were called 
deaconesses, to torture;but I could extort nothing from 
them but the acknowledgement of a superstition, de- 
praved as immoderate; and therefore desisting from 
farther investigation, I hasted to consult you; for, in- 
deed the matter appeared to me deserving the most 
attentive consideration, especially in view or the im- 
mense number of those who are involved in this 
dangerous predicament; for informations are already 



FIRST CENTURY AFTER CHRIST 249 

brought against multitudes of all ages, of all orders, 
and both sexes; and now will be impeached, for the 
contagion of this superstition has not only spread 
widely over the cities and villages, but reached even 
the farm houses. I am of opinion, however, that it 
may yet be stopped and corrected; for it is evident 
that the temples, which were found nearly deserted, 
begin to be frequented; and the sacred solemnities, 
that for a long while had been suspended; are coming 
into practice, so that now there is brisk sale of vic- 
tims for sacrifices, where before there scarcely could 
be found a purchaser. From whence I cannot but 
conclude, that the bulk of the people .may be reclaim- 
ed, if impunity be allowed to repentance." 

The reply of Trajan to Pliny. 

"My Dear Pliny: — You have certainly follow..] 
the righ track, in the discussion of the causes, u ln- 
tive to the impeachment of Christians. No certain 
rule can be laid down, invariably to be adhered to in 
all cases. They are not to be hunted up by inform is, 
but if impeached and convicted, let them be execut. rl : 
only this restriction, that if any person deny that he 
is a Christian, and demonstrates it by offering suvp'i- 
cation to our gods, however suspicious his conduct 
may have been before, his penitence shall secure Ins 
pardon. But unless every information has the ac- 
cuser's name annexed, whatever be the crime charg- 
ed, it is not to be regarded; as it would be a preced 
ent of the worst sort, and totally contray to the max- 
ims of our government. 

These letters appear to give a wonderful view 
of the state of Christianity, and the dreadful perse- 
cutions to whigh the faithful were exposed. 
1st. It is evident by the laws then in force, that it 
was a capital crime for any man to be a Christian; 
that nothing else was necessary for his execution, than 



250 FOOTSTEPS OF THS FLOCK. 

his own confession; or conviction by evidence of the 
fact; or his refusal to commit an act of idolatry when 
accused. 2nd. It is clear that the humane Trajan and 
the philosophic Pliny appeared not to entertain a 
doubt of the propriety of the law, or the wisdom and 
justice of executing it in all its fulness. Pliny con- 
fesses he had ordered such capital punishment to be 
inflicted on many, chargeable with no crime, but their 
profession of Christianity; and the Emperor confirms 
the justice of the sentence, and enjoins the continu- 
ance of such executions, without exception in favor 
of any who did not apostatize, and curse the Lord 
Christ, and worship the idols of paganism. 3rd. 
After the most exact enquiries, even from the apos- 
tate Christians themselves, without a discordant 
voice or suspicion of misrepresentation, never was a 
more noble, and unequivocal evidence given to the 
excellency of the Christian character; of their piety, 
purity, and peaceable conduct; their happy commun- 
ion with each other; and the innocence and exempla- 
riness of their lives before all men. So by the con- 
fession of these apostates themselves, no man could 
belong to this holy community, whose outward walk 
and conversation did not adorn the doctrine of God. 
Clement An. 92. The writings of this apostolic 
father, marked with the character of authenticity, 
serve to cast some light upon the Christian church. 
Whether he be the same person whose name is re- 
corded by the apostle, Phil. iv. 3; is uncertain though 
not improbable. He had in that case been the fellow 
laborer with the apostle, and his attendant at Philip- 
pi. Whether he was a native of Rome, or left by the 
apostle at Rome to superintend the concern of that 
church, appears not decided. He had probably also, 
if Paul's associate, become acquainted with the Cor- 
rinthian church, where wealth and wisdom had early 



SECOND CENTURY AFTER CHRIST. 251 

introduced so much corruption, desire of pre-eminence, 
a disputations and faction, spirit, and consequently 
most dishonorable divisions;and these unhappily con- 
tinued to increase. The doctrines which character- 
ize the teachers from the true and false, he explicitly 
describes. We therefore, (saith he) called by the will 
of God, are not constituted just men by ourselves, 
neither on account of our attainment in science, pow- 
er of intellect, our piety, or works, even wrought 
with sanctity of heart, but By faiih, by which alone 
the omnipotent G>d hath justified all who ever were 
just, before him, to whom be glory forever and ever. 
So unequivocal a confession of the true faith is to be 
strongly noted, as the cardinal hinge of the question, 
who are the schismatics; to what teachers we must 
cleave, and from whom we must separate the dis- 
ciples. To the end of the first century, the church 
had formed no alteration in its established mode of 
government and order, different from what appears 
in the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles. Matters 
however, it must be owned, rested not long in this 
state of lowliness and simplicity. Ignatius will soon 
be seen advancing many degrees above Clements in 
episcopal authority, and Cyprian rising abundantly 
on stilts of prelatical arrogance. This was an in- 
creasing evil Before the middle of the second cen- 
tury the change was considerable, though for a while 
the poverty and persecutions of the church served as 
a strong check to the native corrupt affectation Oi 
power and superiority in the human heart. Consid- 
ering the times, and regarding the persons called to 
be saints, a learned ministry cannot be supposed in 
the primitive church. They must usually have been 
men simple and unlettered, though full of faith ana 
and the Holy Ghost, the qualifications which 
then determined the -suffrage^ of the several flocks. 



252 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

They were persons little suited to dispute with the 
philosophers on the arena of nature, or metaphysical 
subtelties, but they could tell a plain and affecting 
story of him who bought us with his own precious 
blood; who died for us and rose again; and 
of the guilt and irrevocable ruin of all mankind out of 
Christ. The effects produced by their preaching were 
mighty through God, to the quelling of the strong- 
hold of Satan. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

SECOND CENTURY AFTER CHRIST. 

Chapter VI. Amid the flame of peisecuticn kindl- 
ed without and the corruptions and errors broached 
within, the church continued to enlarge and raise 
his sacred hand, encircled with glory, and spread his 
borders. The evidence attending the Gospel word; 
the Divine power which attended the preaching; the 
holy lives of its professors; the zeal of its confessors, 
and the blood of martyrs, failed not to make daily 
and numerous converts to the truth. Such appears 
to have been the state of the church in the begin- 
ning of the second century. All the Apostles, probably, 
and the men of the first generation, who had been 
with the disciples of the Lord, and come forth from 
Jerusalem, had by this time finished their testimony; 
as well as most of the second race who had heard 
them. The churches had therefore no longer these 
oracles of wisdom to consult in their immergencies, 



SECOND CENTURY AFTER CHRIST. 253 

but were left to the general teaching of the Spirit and 
word. A dark cloud of persecution now lowered 
over the Christians, justly provoked by their divi- 
sions and declensions from apostolic purity simplic- 
ity tnd humality. The short reign of Nerva had cast 
a gleam of sunshine and peace, after the storms 
which had gone over them. The toleration with 
which he had indulged them, ceased on the accession 
of Tragan. He bore an utter enmity against Christ- 
ianity and seems to have apprehened it in a political 
view, as ready to introduce a system contrary to the 
despotism which he cherished. The Christians refus- 
ing to implicitly comply with all his comands, pro- 
voked the hatred of a man, who asserving deity, and 
demanding worship, could not bear to be contradict- 
ed and opposed by the meanest of his subjects. (See 
the corres pondence between Pliny and Tragan, before 
narrated.) A presbytery, with a bishop at their head, 
is now (2 An.) first distinctly marked, and obedience 
to them enjoined as to Christ, in a high strain of au- 
thority; and to the bishop repeatedly inculcated, as 
to God himself. The real divinity of Jesus Christ, 
his incarnation, as man, faith in him and union with 
him, as the true life of Christianity, purity of char- 
acter; and the eternal punishment of sin, are clearly 
and precisely marked' as the doctrines of the true 
chuch. The idea of the priesthood had not yet scarce- 
ly entered into the Christian sanctuary, as there re- 
mained no more sacrifice for sin, and but one high- 
preist of our profession, Jesus Christ. But on the 
disolution of the whole Jewish economy under Adri- 
an, the powers of the associated clergy, began to 
put forth its head, ambitions and designing men sug- 
gested, what many received in their simplicity; that 
the succession to the honours now devolved upon 
them, and that the bishop stoop in the place of the 



254 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

high-priest, the pesbyters were priests, and the dea- 
cons, levites; and so a train of consequences followed. 
Thus a new tribe arose, completely separate from 
their brethren, and of clergy distinct from laity. 
Men sacred to office, exclusive of a divine call, and 
real worth. The altar was not yet erected, nor the 
unholy sarifice of the Eucharist perfected, but it ap- 
proached by hasty strides, to add greater sanctity to 
the priesthood, and the not unpleasant adjunct of the 
divine right of tithes, attached to the divine right of 
episcopacy. This abuse grew not at once. The re- 
maining piety and sobriety of the true church, and mul 
titudes of its primative pastors retarded the progress 
of worldly — mindedness and ambiiion, till the union 
of churce and state in the establishment of Christi- 
anity under Constantine, very nearly completed the 
worldly system. The consumation of abuse and 
wickedness in the mother of harlots and all abomina- 
tions succeeded; and long has the earth groaned un- 
der the anti-Christian tyranny. The simplicity of the 
primetive worship contrasted with the pomp of pag- 
anism, was striking. It was calculated by the hea- 
thens, they who had neither altar or victim, priest, 
01 sacrifice, must, be atheists, and without God in the 
world. Those who were now rising into self-created 
eminence, had little difficulty to persuade them, that 
it would be for their interest, and the honor of Christ- 
ianity, to remove these objections of the Gentiles, by 
any harmless, but useful alterations. Though mag- 
nificent temples had not yet arisen, the names of 
things began to change. There were airedy priests 
and oblations were easily rendered sacrifices. The sepa- 
ration of the clergy, as a body, became more dis- 
coverable by their habits. High-priests must have 
more splendid robes than the simple tunic of linen. 
A variety of new ceremonies was invented to add 



SECOND CENTURY AFTER CHRIST. 255 

dignity to the mysteries of Christianity and obviate 
the objections to its meanness and simplicity. And 
as the populace were particularly attached to their 
idolatry by the festivals in honor of their heroes, and 
their gods; and deligted with the games and pastimes 
on these occasions; the great Gregory Thanmatrug 
shortly afterwards contrived to balk the devil, by 
granting the people the indulgence of all the same 
pleasures of feasting, sporting and dancing at the 
tombs, and on the annaversary of the martyrs, as 
they had been accustomed to do in the temples of their 
gods, very wisely, supposing that, "Of their own 
accord they would quit their idolatry, and return to a 
more virtuous and regular course of life." The ordi- 
nance of the commemoration of the sacrifice of 
Christ, and the benefits which we receive thereby, 
continued to be celebrated weekly, but with some ad- 
ditional ceremonies. The wine was now mixed with 
water, the bread divided in pieces and sent to the sick 
and absent. It became also important, and suppoesd 
essential to salvation and therefore minestered to in- 
fants, a proof of their being baptized. 

An. 240, 269. The Socinians, Areans, and Man- 
ichocians, made their appearance during this period 
But I am enquiring after God's secret ones, the rem- 
nant whom the world knew not, the chosen and call- 
ed and faithful; the only church worthy of a Chris- 
tian name. 



256 FOOTST3PS OF THE FLOCK. 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

E1RLY REFORMERS. 

I now pass to the 7 century, before I find a clean 
and distinct truce of that church. "At the close of 
that century, the first traces appear of a small but 
precious body, afterwards named Valdenses, which 
some think a branch of the Panliciars. Retireing 
from the insolence and oppression of the Romish cler- 
gy, and disgusted with their vices, they sought a hid- 
ing place in the seclueded vallies of the Pais de Vand, 
embosomed by the Alps, and removed from the obser- 
vation of their persecutors, where they might enjoy 
peace, worship and comnmnion with God. The origin 
of this stock of the reformation cannot perhaps be 
exactly ascertained. They affirm, that they began 
to separate themselves from the corruptions of the 
Romish church, about three hundred years af- 
ter the reign of Constantine. Reneus, who from an 
apostate among them, as is usually the case, turned 
a most envenomed persecutor, complains, "That no 
other heretics had given the church of Rome so much 
disturbance, being of very ancient origin, widely dis- 
persed, and of the strongest appearance of piety and 
the true faith." He speaks of them under the name 
of Leonists, as a sect which had subsisted more than 
five hundred years. Their name of Valdenses, is 
said by some to be derived from a teacher of emi- 
nence among, them, cotemporary with Berengarius, 
but rather, probably from the valley where they first 
took refuge. Their beginnings were indeed small, 
but they had in time great increase and the vital 
spark of heavenly fire seems to have been in a special 
manner preserved in the wilderness. Neither num- 
bers, power, nor greatness constitute the church. No 



EARLY REFORMERS, 257 

man can belong to it, who is not joined to the Lord in 
one Spirit, and however reduced the body may be to 
appearance, yet like the seven thousand in Israel who 
would not bow the knee to Baal, Christ had his rem- 
nant, according to the eternal council of his wilh 
The foundation of the church stood secure, the Lord 
knew those that were his in the darkest hour of the 
deepest apostacy. 

8th. Century. The poor reffugees in the valleys of 
Piedmont, seem to have been left to themselves, prob- 
ablytoo few and contemptible to attract notice, or so 
far removed from the observation of the proud prelates 
who could not have got anything by persecuting 
them. Dispersed through the world a few, and but a 
few, probably read the Scriptures, embraced the great 
and precious promises, and amidst all the contentions 
and fooleries of the day, held fast the truth as it is 
in Jesus. These were then the dispused in the earth 
as the gleanings of grapes of the vineyard when the 
vitage is done. 

An. 847. Godeschalcus, remewed the doctrine s of 
predestination and grace. He was a monk of Orbais 
in France, where pelagianism was from the begin- 
ning deeply rooted. Zealous for the evangelical doc- 
trines, now debased with every alloy and desirous 
of reviving the knowledge of the grace of God in 
truth, he laboured assidously, under the patronage 
of Eberald; one of the first nobles, in the court of the 
Emperor Lothaire. He was heard with deep serious- 
ness, and attention. A flame was kindled by his 
preaching, and his popularity kindled the envy of 
Monrice Archbishop of Mentz, before whom he was 
accused of heresy; and condemned in a council and 
held in that city. 

An. 848. For punishment he was sent to Hinch- 

17 



258 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

man, at that time archbishop of Rheims, who had 
ordered him. Hinchman was in league with his broth- 
er, the bishop of Mentz, an equal enemy of this 
pretended disturber of the chuich's peace, tnd cf 
his person. With him the ablest arguments and un- 
impeaehed integrity of Godeschalcus weighed not a 
hair. In council at Quiracy, his condemnation was 
confined with every insult and aggravated injustice. 
An. 849, In vain he maintained the truth of his opin- 
ion with evidence, it was impossible to contradict or 
deny. The brutal prelate, the less able he was to 
answer his arguments or impeach his fidelity, the 
more exasperated, without shame resolved to employ 
the power with which he was invested. He degrade 
ed him from the sacradotal character, exposed him 
to public punishment by whipping until he was cover- 
ed with a gore of blood, and near expired, he cast 
him into a miserable dungeon, where after years of 
suffering, he died a martyr for the truth, which no 
torments could engage him to forsake, though the 
force of them compelled him to burn with his own 
hands, the justification of his opinions, which he had 
presented to the council at Mentz. In the same fire 
he had probably been cast himself, if he had obsti- 
nately refused the sacrifice. But his spirit unbroken 
with ill usage, long maintained in the house of his 
prison the same opinions for which he suffered, and 
his latest truth solemnly attested the divine authority 
of which living, he had defended, and when dying 
supported him through all his sufferings. Who can 
read church history without horror of the abuses of 
prelatical power ? But the sufferings of the martyrs, 
as is usually the case, produced effects more powerful 
than their preaching. His doctrines were canvassed, 
his defence read, the cruelty of his enemies awaken- 
ed compassion, and the divine truth, for which he 



EARLY REFORMERS, 259 

suffered, found able advocates in able eccesiastics, 
and many others who condemned the injustice with 
which Godtschalcus had been treated, and the un- 
christian severity of the punishment inflicted upon 
him. But the party of Hinchman and his associates, 
was as in the case in general where the truth of vital 
godliness are the subjects of contest, far superior. 

An. 869, The contest ended not with the men of 
that day, but to our own remains in full vigor, and 
will probably continue to the end of time. The un- 
humbled, unawakened, the pharasacal, the proud, 
who entertained high imaginations of the human 
powers, and the reasonings of fallen man, must as 
inevitably oppose the doctrines of grace now, as they 
did of old. Moshiem calls this "an intricate and in- 
comprehensible subject, when to be silent is the tru- 
est wisdom," thus would evade one of the most inter- 
esting truths of God's revealed word. To the sinner 
concious of his guilt, misery and helplesness, the riches 
of the grace which is in Jesus Christ, will be not 
a subject intricate, nor incomprehensible, and to 
know the love of Christ, which passeth all known 
ledge in its happy and saving effects, will be found 
the point of highest wisdom, but it is what the wis- 
dom of man never taught, nor all his proud resonings 
ever led to. 

"The natural man receiveth not the things which 
be of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them, 
because they are spiritually descerned." 

Happily the Lord in every age, though they were 
but few comparatively, taught some the grace of God 
which bringeth salvation, and to this day a genera- 
tion according to the election of grace can say, 
"Wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory 
of God. 



260 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

"The foundation of God standeth sure, The Lord 
knoweth them that are his.' 7 

As the doctrine of the Trinity hath a near connec- 
tion with that of predestination and grace, the same 
Hinchman as bitterly condemned his adversary for 
the use of that address. "O God, three, yet one, 
we pray/' &c. This he termed Tritheism, and con- 
demned as impious heresy. 

An. 99). Now first the tocsin of holy war was 
sounded by Sylvester against the Saracens, which 
however ineffectual to wake up the dormant zeal, and 
kindle the enthusiasm of that generation, prepared 
the way for the crusaders in the next. The great 
body of those who still retained the true doctrine, was 
to be found in the inferior stations of the Church and 
among the unlettered of the laity, in whom the spirit 
of God continued to give the understanding which 
is after godliness, and who receive the Scriptures in 
simplicity and truth. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE WALDENSES. 



12th, Century. An. 1120. Peter De Breeyes, in Pro- 
vience was at the head of a sect called from him Petro- 
tusians. He inveighed against the vices and supu- 
stitions of the times, and boldly attacked the ecclesi- 
astical tyranny and abuses of Rome as anti-Christian. 
The clergy stirred up the populace, and he was burnt 
alive, not judicially, but in a tumult, raised by the 



TEE WALDENSES, 2131 

priest. Indeed if he had been heard the most profi- 
table article of their trade had been utterly depreci- 
ated, as he denied the efficacy of indulgences, and 
affirmed, that the prayers or oblations of the living, 
could be of no avail to the dead, he asserted also, that 
the body of Christ was only in the Eucharist injigure 
not reality, that the crucifixes, and all the objects of 
superstitious devotions, were abominable, that 
churches had no peculiar sanctity, but that God might 
every where be served acceptably by his spiritual 
worshipers. These and like tenents, highly offensive 
to the priesthood, he maintained with such zeal, 
say enthusiasm, as brought him to his end. But the 
convictions of truth which he preached did not die 
with him. 

An. 1160. But the most zealous and successful re- 
former of the age, was Peter Waldus, or Valdus, a 
name derived from those whose principles he had a- 
dopted. He had been a merchant of Syrus, but having 
imbibed from the Waldenses a taste for the Scriptures 
he procured a priest to translate for him the four 
gospels with other books of the New Testament, into 
French. The dilligent perusal of these, not only 
opened his eyes to the reigning errors and profligacy 
of the clergy, but animated him with holy zeal. He 
quitted his profession, distributed his whole substance 
to the poor, and forming congregations who embrac- 
ed his opinion, he began boldly to preach and teach 
the doctrines of vital Christianity, and to remonstrate 
against the ignorance and vices of the age. 

An. 1180. The archbishop of Lyons and his clergy 
fired at these roporches, endeavored to silence this 
new apostle. But the purity of his life, the disinter- 
ested charity he displayed, the simplicity of truth 
w hich he taught, and the zeal with which he enforced 



262 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

his exhortations, awakened deep concern in many, 
and procured him many faithful associates and fel 
low labores. These formed numerous societies in 
France, Italy, and throughout Europe. Nor could the 
most furious persecutions raised against them, or the 
murders committed upon them or anathemas of the 
Church depress their courage or reduce them to si- 
lence. 

The doctrines which they taught, and the 
practices they recommended, were generally such as 
the Protestants have since adopted. They little es- 
teemed the sacrificial pursuits or scholastic theology 
i 1 vogue, prefering for the ministry the men most de- 
voted to examplary piety, to all the learning of the 
schools. They suffered every man of the congrega- 
tion, who possessed ability, and felt himself so dis- 
posed to exhort and pray, confirming the hearts of 
the disciples. They denied the efficacy of relics, 
prayer and penance to procure pardon for sin, which 
God through Christ alone could bestow. They assert- 
ed, that confession to a priest was useless, and any 
evangelized brother could equally advise and admol- 
ish, they regarded with horror, the idea of purchased 
dispensations]and indulgencies, as the frauds of sacri- 
dotal avarice. They rejected all the pentencias, and 
their absurb prescriptions, and desired that the sim- 
ple ancient descipline in every congregation should be 
restored. They despised all services for the dead as 
useless, regarded the purgatoral fire as deception 
invented to rob the credulous; and affirmed, that the 
state of departed spirits irrevocably fixed for hell or 
heaven, the moment of their departure from the body 
and trusted upon the finished redemption of Jesus 
Christ, for life and salvation. Among these, under 
their faithful leader, Peter, the Waldenses, had long 
subsisted in the Pais de Vand, from whence they h^u 



T'HjjJ waldenses. 263 

their name. Certain it is, from the testimony of 
their inquisitorial enemies, as well as friends that 
•they had subsisted for centuries past in the vales of 
Piedmont, They are said by Mocstreaht to have writ 
ten against the errors of popery before the year 1,000 
and by Poplicranius, to have been diffused widely 
•over the western world. They were condemned as 
'•damnable parties" by Alexander the third, at the 
synod of Toms in the year 1163, and are said to have 
been long since spread through the district of Tou- 
louse. After all the havoc made by the bloody in- 
quisitors, they continued so numerous, that the Arch- 
bishop of Aix, of Aries, and of Narboune, informed 
the Pope, that it was impossible to build prisons suf- 
ficient to hold the heretics, or procure them food, and 
thorefore desired his holiness, to advise what should 
be done, 

"All these (says Mezeray) held almost the same 
opinions as those who are now called Calvinists." 

Clark in his Martyrology, records about twenty 
eminent witnesses in England before Wickliff, and 
observes, that, "though the saints of God were com- 
pelled to hide themselves, and underwent gritv- 
ous persecutions, yet he still preserved a seed alive, 
to bear witness against the anti- Christian con up- 
tions." Thus in many lands, the seed of gospel truth 
and future reformation were despised, and hence- 
forth the persecutions raised against them, demon- 
strated the wide spreading cantagion of what the 
enemies of truth branded as heresy. From their 
increasing numbers, and their attempts to stem the 
torrent of superstition, they grew into observation, 
and though inferior in rank, and comparatively few, 
prophesying in sack-cloth, and exposed to every in- 
sult, and suffering, it was evident the Lord had not 



264 FOOTSTEPS OF THK FLOCK. 

forsaken the earth, nor left himself without a wit- 
ness. 

Itisevidentthatin France, England, 
Lombardy, and Bohemia there was still a poor and 
scattered people, who dared to be singular, and prob- 
ably throughout the Christian world a generation of 
like spirits might be fouad, though their obsecurity 
of station, dispensation and fewness in number, 
brought them to such persecution as would render 
them objects of history. The true kingdom of God 
cometh not with outward parade of human great- 
ness. It is not of this world, it is hid with Christ in 
God, and so probably will be to the end of time, un- 
til the kingdoms of the earth shall become the king- 
doms of the Lord and his Christ. 

13th. Century. The rising hosts, against the holy 
see alarmed the pontiff, more than all the conquests 
of Saracens, and therefore against them during this 
century the weapons of war, ecclesiastical and civil, 
were particularly sharpened. It would be too exten- 
sive a field to recount all the persons, names and sects 
that called forth the Roman fury. The heaviest 
weight fell upon the south of France, where, under 
the general title of Albigenses and Waldenses, were 
all who resisted the claims of papal dominion, and 
refused to comply with the imperious dictates of its 
pontiff, or wished reformation in the church, both in 
its head and members. Louis the fourth, the great 
king of France, engaged by the solicitations and 
promises of the Pope, An. 1229, cast his enormus 
weight into the scale against the poor persecuted 
Christians, and he and the Pope divided the spoil of 
the vanquished cour€ of Toulouse. The inquisition, 
established in his capital, previously laboured to ex- 
tripate by fire and imprisonment, the remains of the 



THE T/AWN OF THE REFORMATION. 265 

pretended heritical crew. The plea was heresay, but 
the real moving cause was ambition, pride and avirice. 
Yet after thousands upon thousands had been sacri- 
ficed on the Romish altar of Moloch by inquisitors 
with every demonical principle of cruelty and hatred 
the cause had taken too deeply to be extripated, 
and through suppressed in one part, broke out in an 
other, till the happy day of reformation came, and 
the tiger no longer permitted to rave as before, was 
chained, and now through mercy his teeth are drawn 
and his claws so pared, that though still permitted to 
occupy his den, he is become despised and contemp- 
tible, and his end approaching. The church of the 
living God began to cause more observation by the 
fire kindled around. From the vallies of the Alps, 
where a holy seed had been preserved, they had not 
only spread into the southern provinces of France, 
where the persecution was most bloody, but into 
Germany and Italy. George Morel affirms, that those 
of the Waldensean confession in 1260 amounted to 
800,000. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE DAWN OF THE REFORMATION. 

An. 1360. The famous WicklifF particularly dis- 
tinguished himself by not sparing the tyranny of 
Rome, or the abuses of that government, and all the 
monkish order with equal severity and contempt. 
He exhorted all men to read the Scriptures for them- 



266 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FIXCK. 

selves, and resolved to procure them opportunity, by 
translating the bible into his native tongue, and dis- 
persing copies as widely as possible. A crime o' such 
enormity could not escape the notice of the papists, 
and on the accusation of the monks, Sudly Arch - 
bishop of Canterbury, summoned the heritics before 
a council at London. 

An. 1377. Here nothing could have prevented 
his condemnation but the favour of John of Gaunt, 
Duke of Lancaster and other noblemen who honored 
the reformer, and protected him from violence. The 
great schism of popedom just then happening, the ac- 
cusation slept and Wickliff, held his rectory of Lut- 
terworth, and disseminated far and wide with the 
Scriptures, the principles of truth and of the reforma- 
tion. A succeeding Archbishop of Courtney, at the 
instigation of the monks, received the proscess, Au. 
1385, and though Wicktiff's person, yet escaped the 
flames, his book, and opinious did not, being judged 
in two councils held in London and Oxford, heretical 
and erronious. How he avoided the effects of their 
malice is uncertain. He retired, however to his ben- 
ificer in the country and shortly after finished his 
glorious career. 

An. 1387. His followers were not as happy as their 
leader, many of them under the name of Lollards and 
Wickliffites were hunted out by the bishops and 
their inquisitors, and proceeded against, with all the 
unrelenting cruelty of their courts ecclesiastical. The 
vengance which Wickliff's living person escaped, 
fell upon his dead bones, which in consequence of a 
decree of the council of Constance, were afterward 
dug up and publicly burnt. The University of Ox- 
ford had the honor of producing the first eminent 
English reformer and the crime of persecuting and 



THE DAWN OF THE REFORMATION. 267 

expelling 1 him. The art of printing, firsts invented 
by Oostor of Harlem, An. 1430, and gradually 
brought to perfection by Guttamberg and ScosfTer, 
was of vast importance under God to the spreading 
of religeous literature. But it must be owned that 
all philosophic mixtures are very unsuitable with the 
simplicity of gospel truth. John Huss and Jerome of 
Prague, men of the most exemplacy piety, highly 
ly eminent in Bohema, and distinguished members 
in the university af that city, had made themselves 
bitter enemies among the clergy, by the sharpness of 
their rebukes, and the fidelity of their remonstrances. 
Huss bad especially enraged the see of Rome, which 
made it dangerous for Huss and Jerome to venture a- 
mong this envenomed host of enemies, nor dared 
they to trust themselves, till fortified with the most 
solemn safe conduct from the Emperor for their 
journey thither and peaceable return. But the clergy 
by their intrigues, and bribes distributed among the 
fathers and countries of Sigismund contrived to have 
these reverend reformers accused and imprisoned, 
and after forty days disputation, condemned to the 
flames, in opposition to the most sacred engagements. 
Huss the noble martyr braved all their insults and 
torments, saying "that they were burning a goose 
for so his name in German signifies, but God would 
raise from his ashes, a swan, whose singing should 
affright these vultures." The application to Luther 
was evident. Huss was burned July 15, 1415. Jerome 
was burned May 30, 1416. Wickliff was charged 
with teaching, "That the church consisted only of 
the elect, that those, like Paul, belong to it, who are 
the predestinated and chosen vessels, even before 
their conversion. That no reprobate is found in it. 
That the true members never finally fail, though for 
a time they may be tempted and turned aside, that 



268 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

the eucharist is not the real body of Christ, but the 
sign of it; that Rome hath no more right to jurisdic- 
tion than any other church; the gospel pointed out 
the Christians faith and conduct, and that in the con- 
duct of his soul ever y man had aright to judge for 
himself." 

The articles of accusation against Huss, were in 
exact correspondence. The increasing wants and 
repaciousness of the Roman see, made it necessary to 
replenish her coffers, and fresh orders were issued to 
the legates every where, to find the best qualified in- 
struments, preach and disperse the rich indulgences, 
which Leo in his great munificence, was disposed to 
grant to all Christian people, who had money to pur- 
chase them, for all sins, past, present and to come. 
As the legates were only anxious to get money, they 
cared but little about the way it was obtained, they 
selected for this service, instruments the best calculat- 
ed to impose upon the credulity of the people, men of 
popular talents, blushing effrontery, and perfect 
devotedness to the Roman see. Among these the 
Archbishop of Mentz found John Tetzel, whose craft 
equaled his impudence, he undertook the task with 
wonderous alacrity and success, and exalted the val- 
ue of the favors which he was dispursing, with an 
eloquence, and exagurated commendation of efficacy 
of his indulgencies, that could but produce among 
the>uperstisious multitude innumerable customers. 
He blazoned the virtures of the saints in colours 
the most transcendent glory, vaunted the rich trea- 
suries of merit, now opening from the church's re- 
ository of which the keys were to him entrusted. 
He could expel all wants, supply all deficiencies, and 
cancel all crimes. He boasted of his ability to save 
even the ravisher of the blessed virgin herself, and 
affirmed, that he, John Tetzel, had resecured from 



MARTIN LUTHER. 269 

hell and purgatory by his indulgences, more than 
even St. Pet^r himself had converted to Christianity 
by preaching. The gaping crowds heard with wond- 
er this matchless knight of the golden key, and sent 
up their money to the stage with avidity for these 
precious ecclesiastical penances, which were to set 
their consciouses at rest forever. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

MARTIN LUTHER, 

Martin Luther, a monk at Wittenburg resolved to 
check this impudent montebank in his career; and 
not to suffer him in the city where he held the divin- 
ity chair, to propagate blasphemies, so opposite to all 
revealed truth, without rebuke. He therefore chal- 
lenged him in ninety-five propositions, to defend him 
self and his pontifical employees, for suffering such 
impostures, and countenancing such abominable 
frauds and impositions upon the people. 

An. 1517. Never was a man more formed for 
the contest in which he was engaged, than this brave 
Saxon. His faculties were singularly great; his mem- 
ory prodegious; his mind fraught with the richest 
stores of ancient wisdom and literature, to which he 
addicted himself; but above all he was deeply read in 
the oracles of God, and conversant with the best of 
fathers and their writings, particularly Augutine, 
the patron'of this order. His temper was strong and 



270 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

irascible; his courage invincible; his eloquence pow- 
erful as his voice. No dangers intimidated him; no 
difficulties, trials or immergencies deprived him of 
self-possession; in perseverance unshaken, in labor 
indegafatigable. Rome did not know the Hercules 
in the cradle, that was ready so strangle her snakes, 
and at first despised such impotent, efforts. Nor did 
he himself know his own strength, or suspect 
or intend the consequences, which would result 
from this small commencement. But if God will 
work, none can hinder;and any instrument is sufficient, 
though it were the jawbone of an ass, when the Spirit 
of the Lord comes upon the appointed Sampson. Yet, 
God works according to the counsels of his own will, 
and we see how worderfully he provides and qualifies 
the proper subjects for their peculiar services; and 
the success is wholy from himself. Leo might have 
healed the schism by a slight concession or modifi- 
cations; for Luther disputed not the power of the 
pontiff to absolve from all church punishment; and 
urged that final salvation, was attainable by the 
merits of Christ alone, and the penance performed 
by the offender; so dark at first were his own views of 
acceptance with God; but the matter was of the Lord, 
therefore not slightly healed. The insolvent security 
of the pontiff, led him to neglect the extinguishing 
of the first spark; and when dispute had blown the 
spark into flame, all the deluge of waters from the 
mouth of the dragon became unable to quench the 
conflagration. This was the age of dispute and vio- 
lence. 

The propositions maintained at Wittenburg, 
not only offended Tetzel, but his order, and all the fu- 
rious partizans at Rome. All tried in the battle 
to bear down the despised monk of Sanony, with 
their eloquence, their arguments, and church author- 



MARTIN LUTHER. 271 

ity. Pricrio, Hoogstraat, Eskins, zealous Romanists, 
with many others, displayed their zeal for the Cath- 
olic faith, and their abhorance of it impugners; 
whom they humbly prayed the Pope to commit to the 
flames, and silence his blasphemies against authority. 
Luther was not a man to be intimidated by threaten- 
ing, or to be borne down by violence. He hurled back 
upon them the thunders they darted at him; refuted 
their arguments, and treated their persons with sov- 
erign contempt. Yet to the pope he held the most re- 
spectflul language, as a dutiful son, and as advanc- 
ing noting he would not retract the moment he was 
convinced of its contrarity to the Catholic faith. 
Whether the Pope thought this one of the many 
nonsensical quarrels which would die away of them- 
selves, as others had done before; or that it 
was beneath his dignity to pay attention to so incon- 
siderate an individual; no reply was made to Luther's 
letters; and Leo was only arroused from his security, 
by the information received from the Emperor Maxil- 
ian, that all Germany was in a flame; and that some- 
thing must be done to suppress it without delay. 
Teased with these remonstrances, he ordered to his 
presence the impertinent reformer. Luther knew the 
court at Rome too well to trust himself in her clutch- 
es, prevailed on the Elector of Saxony, who favored 
him and his opinions, to apply to the Pope for the 
decision of the case in Germany, before the proper 
tribunal, where it originated. Leo, unwilling to 
offend a man of whose influence he might stand in 
need, consented to refer the matter to his legate, 
Cajstan, at Augsburg; he could not have chosen a 
more improper judge; a Dominican, the declaim- 
ed friend of Tetzel, and the enemy of Luther, Before 
him however Luther preached his cause, and as 
might be expected, instead of being heard with can- 



272 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

dor, and answered with respect; the legate with the 
tone of insolent authority, commanded him to'abjure 
his opinions as erroneous, and submit humbly to the 
penetance that should be enjoined upon him by the 
holy see, Au. 1518. To this he would not submit; and 
convinced how fruitless it would be to reason, and 
ho w dangerousto trust his life, he secretly left Augs- 
burg, and took refuge in Saxony, lodging his appeal 
with Leo, when he should be better informod of the 
merits of the controversy. To silence the dispute, 
Leo issued his decrees commanding universal sub- 
mission to the authority of Rome, as capable alike of 
delivering her subjects from all punishment tvhatever, 
ivhether in this world or that which is to come; and 
therefore forbidding this article of faith to be ever- 
more brought into contest. Luther had therefore to 
submit, do penance, or appeal to a higher tribunal. 
He chose the latter, and referred himself and his 
cause to the next general council. The Pope sent a 
new legate into Saxony, Miltitz, a man admirably 
calculated to heal the breach; and being a Saxon 
knight, he could not but be particularly acceptable 
to the elector and his chaplain, Miltitz softened down 
the rigid temper of the Reformer, by compliance, en- 
gaged him to write a submissive letter to the Pope, 
from whom he received a most condescending epistle 
in return. The strongest hopes were now entertained, 
that the matter was ended; but God had in mercy 
otherwise intended. Luther would have been satis- 
fied if grosser abuses of indulgence were removed, 
and consented to silence on the subject in dispute, if 
his adversaries were obliged to the same; and he of- 
fered to write a general circular letter to all he could 
influence, reverently to obey the church of Rome. So 
near to an accommodation were matters brought 
through the prudence of Miltitz, when the fury of 



MARTiN LUTHER, 273 

bigotry happily precluded all reconciliation. An. 1519, 
Eskins, the partizau of Rome, had challengedCarlo- 
stadt, the faithful colleague of Luther, to disipate at 
Leipsic, on the deep subject of free-will. The day 
was fixed; the chapions sharpened their weapons of 
controversy, and a splendid auditory attended the 
discussion, respecting the, power and freedom of the 
human wlih Luther appeared as second to his friend. 
Carlostadt maintained, that since the fall, we had no 
ability for good but that derived from divine grace. 
Eskins asserted a native power of self-determining 
volition to concern with, or resist, the divine opera- 
tion. The one was the advocate for the sovereignty of 
grace; the other for the power and merit of man in 
his salvation. A second conflict followed between 
Luther and Eskins on the authority of the Roman 
pontiff over the consciences of men. And as was the 
custom of the times, the dispute was sharp, and lead- 
ing to dangerous positions. Eskins, once the inti- 
mate friend, now became the implacable enemy and 
adversary of Luther, and sought to blacken him by 
every imputation of heretical previty. Huffmann the 
rector of the university, and moderator of the dis- 
putes, dared not decide on these difficult subjects and 
dangerous enquiries. It was a drawn battle; and 
both parties retired from the contest with most de- 
termined adherence to their views, and abundantly 
more distant from and embittered against each other 
than when they began. 

Other reformers arose. The amiable and gentle 
Melancthon was among the auditors of this dispute. 
He had before approved of Luther's scriptural mode 
of treating theological subjects, and this great con- 
flict confirmed him in the rectitude of the position 
which Luther maintained. Forever afterwards he 
ranked with the reformers. A noble monument of 

it 



'274: FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

faithfulness in the cause of God and truth had al- 
ready sprung up in Switzerland, Zuinglius; though 
not like famed with the German reformer, he ranked, 
justly, his equal in piety, in learning his superior. 
He hegan before Luther to explain the scriptures to 
the people, and to censure with great fidelity, though 
with becoming thought, the errors of the church of 
Rome, while the holy flame was kindled at differ- 
ent corners of the earth, and wiles of the crafty as 
well as the arm of power employed to extinguished 
it. Eskin, infuriated with rage, hasted to Rome, and 
backed by all the influence of the Dominicans and in- 
quisitors, induced Leo, to sign the bill which fulmi- 
nated excommunication against Luther's person, and 
ordered the ignominious burning of all his writings. 
Sixty days respite only, were allowed him to abjure, 
repent, and cast himself on the mercy of the pontiff. 
Luther was filled with indignation when this sen- 
tence was notified him. He determined to separate 
from the Romish communion, and to do it in the 
most public manner, and in order to testify his con- 
tempt of the Pope and his authority, whist he renew- 
ed his appeal to the next general council for his justi- 
fication. Before the sixty days expired, he summon- 
ed a vast concourse of all ranks, curious to be pres- 
ent at so sigular a ceremony, and kindling a fire, he, 
by the hands of the hangman, committed to it, in the 
presence of them all, the Pope's bull, with the sacre- 
dotal code of cannons and decretals, and renouncing 
henceforth all authority of Rome and her pontiffs; 
An. 1520. He wished to rouse a spirit of opposition 
to these tyrannical mandates; whilst by his appeal to 
a general council, he interested in his favor all who 
regarded that as the supreme judge of controversy. 
Thus his renunciation of Leo's authority, prevented 
not his professing firm attachment to the Catholic 



MARTIN LUTHER, 275 

church, and readiness to abide by the impartial de- 
cissions of an imprejudiced council. A second bull as 
soon as the sixty days expired, sealed the final dam- 
nation of the obstinate heretic; and met the same 
contempt as the former. 

Charles V. at the request of Frederick, consented that 
he should be judged by a German tribunal; for which 
purpose a diet of the princes, ecclesiastical ar<d tern- 
porial, assembled at Worms, An. 1521. There the 
culprit, fenced with a conduct from the emperor, 
boldly appeared in person, to plead his own cause be- 
fore that august assembly. Many of his friends 
dreaded the encounter; knowing the savage cruelty 
of his judges, ready to violate the safe conduct, in 
order to glut their revenge, as in the case of Huss 
and Jerome, dissuaded him from appearing. But lie 
declared, "If there were as many devils at Worms, as 
their were tiles on the houses, they should not deter 
him from doing his duty." He charmed his friends 
as much he as confounded his enemies, by firmness 
and temperance of his defence, as well as by his elo- 
quence and force of argument. Charles, who was com- 
pelled to flatter Leo, sought by every soothing caress 
and earnest solicitation, to engage Luthtr 
to submit to the Pope. But when he found him in- 
flexible, menaced him with all the wrath of Rome 
and the empire. The undaunted champion firmly, 
but cooly replied that, when his opinions were found 
erroneous, from the word of God and his conduct 
criminal against Christ or his church, he would ask 
nothing more to testify the deepest humilation; but 
till then no man had a right to censure or condemn 
him. The emperor, too generous to violate his safe 
conduct, permitted him to depart; but the unanimous 
suffrage of the diet denounced the full punish- 
ment on the obstinate heretic; on all who should en- , 



276 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

tertain, support, or conceal him; deciding absolutely 
that the Pope ivas the sole judge of religous controver- 
sy in the Christian world. A view so expressly con- 
trary to the Germanic liberties, and the received 
councils, shocked many of those who would have 
cared nothing about the case of so inconsiderable an 
individual. 

Frederick, his protector, dreading the con- 
sequence of Luther's falling into the hands of his 
enemies, contrived to waylay him as he returned 
from the diet; and seized by men in masks, who were 
in the secret, he was carried off to the castle of Wer- 
tenburg, and hid for ten months from all pursuit and 
discovery. There he employed his leisure and retire- 
ment in translating the New Testament, and keeping 
up the spirit of his friend by letter. (See Hawies 7 
His. of Ref. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

THE DOCTKINE OP THE REFORMERS. 

It has been often supposed and suggested that 
the reformers themselves were at variance on the 
most important doctrines of the Gospel; and that 
Luther and Calvin differed greatly in the fundamen- 
tal articles of their creed; whereas, except in the mat- 
ter of Christ's presence in the Eucharist, all the 
eminent men among the reformers of that day y 
concured in the same fundamental truths : 

1st. Of God's eternal purpose and predestination 

!8a 



THE LONDON ARTICLES OF FAITH. 277 

of an elect people; and those comparatively few, or- 
dained to life and glory eternal. 

2nd. That man had lost all ability to do good, 
and freedom of will to choose it; and was in his na- 
ture as fallen, inclined to evil. 

3rd. That nothing ever did or can alter this pro- 
pensity of the human heart, but the Holy Ghost, by 
his own immediate agency upon the souls of men. 

4th. That a sinner is and can be justified by 
faith only; and this not of himself; being unable, 
either to comprehend or receive the things that be of 
the Spirit of God; and therefore, the faith itself must 
be the gift of God. 

5th. That merit in creature, there is none, nor 
ever can be. From first to last a sinner must be saved 
by grace. 

6th. That the vicarious atonement by the one 
oblation of Christ upon the cross, is effectual, not 
for the many called, but for the few chosen. 

These things were what the reformers uniformal- 
ly held : as is evident in the conference at Marping 
between Luther, Zuinglius, Melancthon and Oecolam- 
padius. (See Hawies' His, of Ref .) 



CHAPTER. XXXII. 

THE LONDON ARTICLES OF FAITH. 

In exact accord with these articles of faith 
by the reformers, I submit the London articles which 
are as follows : 



278 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

"We the ministers and messengers o f ? 
and concerned f o r , u p w a r d s of one hundred 
baptist congregations in England and 
Wales (denying Arminianism) being met together in 
London from the third of the seventh month till the 
eleventh of the same, 1689, to consider of some things 
that might be for the glory of God and the good of 
these congregations, having thought meet (for the 
satisfaction of all other Christians that differ with us 
in the point of baptism) to recommend to their pe- 
rusal the Confession of our Faith, printed and sold by 
John Marshall, at the Bible in Grace-Church street; 
which Confession we own as containing the doctrine 
of our faith and practice, and do desire that the mem- 
bers of our churches respectivelj do furnish them- 
selves therewith. " 

Then follows the names of the individuals sign- 
ing this paper. 

CHAP. I.— OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE. 

Art. 1. The Holy Scripture is the only suffi- 
cent, certain and infallible (2 Tim. in. 15, 17; Isa. vm. 
20; Luke xvi. 29, 31; Eph. n. 10) rule of all saving- 
knowledge, faith and obedience, although the (Rom. 
I. 19, 21; ii. 14, 15. Psa. xix, 1-3) light of nature and 
the works of creation and providence do so far man- 
ifest the goodness wisdom, and power of 
God as to leave men unexcusable; yet 
are they not sufficient to give that 
knowledge of God and His will which is necessary 
unto salvation (Heb. i. 1). Therefore it pleased the 
Lord at sundry times and in divers manners to re- 
veal Himself,and to declare His will unto His church, 
and afterward for the better preserving and prop- 



THti LONDON ARTICLES OF FAITH. 279 

abating of the truth, and for the more sure establish- 
ment and comfort of the church against the cor- 
ruption of the flesh and the malice of satan and of the 
world, to commit the same wholly unto (Prov. xxn, 
19-21; Rom. xv. 4; 2 Peter, I. 19, 20) writing, which 
maiseth the Bcly £ciiptuie to be most becetsaij, 
those former ways of God revealing His will unto His 
people being now ceased. 

Art. 2. Under the name of the Holy Scripture, or 
the words of God written, are now contained all the 
books of the Old and New Testament, which are 
these: 

Of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, 
Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruoh, 
First Samuel, Second Samuel, First Kings, Second 
Kings, First Chronicles, Second Chronicles, Ezra, 
Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes; 
The Song of Son^s, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, 
Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obediah, Jonah, 
Micah, Nahum, Habakuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zech- 
aiah, Malachi. 

Of the New Testament: Matthew,Mark,Luke,Joh!i, 
The Acts of the Apostles, Paul's Epistle to the Ro- 
mans, First Corinthians, Second Corinthians, Gal- 
latians, Ephesians, Philipians. Colossians, First 
Thessalonians, Second Thessalonians, First Timothy, 
Second Timothy to Titus, to Philemon, Epistle to the 
Hebrews, the Epistle of James, the first and Second 
Epistles of Peter, the First, Second and Third Epistles 
of John, the Epistle of Jude, the Revelation. All of 
which are given by (Tim. in. 16) the inspiration of 
God, to be the rule of faith and life. 

Art. 3, The books commonly called Apochrypha 
not being of (Luke xxiv. 27, 44; Rom. in. 2) divine 



280 FOOTSTEPS OF THtt FLOCK. 

inspiration are not part of the c m)a (or rule) of 
Scripture, and therefore are of no authority to the 
church of God, nor to be otherwise approve 1 or made 
use of than other human writings. 

Art. 4. The authority of the Holy Scripture, for 
which it ou^ht to be believed, dependeth not upon 
the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon 
(2 Pet. i. 19, 21; 2 Tim. in. 16; 2 Thes. n. 13; 1 John 
v. 9) God (who is truth itself), the author thereof; 
therefore it is to be received because it is the word of 
God. 

Fifth. We miy b3 m^ve 1 an 1 induce 1 by the tes- 
timony of the church of God to an high and reverent 
esteem of the Holy Scripoure, an I the h^ivenlinss^ 
of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, and the 
majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the 
scope of the whole (which is to give all glory to God), 
the full discovery it makes of the only way of 
man's salvation, and many other incomparable ex- 
cellencies and entire perfections thereof, are argu- 
ments whereby* it doth abundantly evidence itself 
to be the word of God, yet notwithstanding our (John 
XVI. 13, 14; 1 Cor. n 10, 12: 1 John I. 2, 20, 27) full 
persuasion of the infallible truth and divine au- 
thority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy 
Spirit, bearing witness by and with the word in our. 
hearts. 

Art. 6, The whole counsel of God concerning all 
things (2 Tim. in. 15, 17; Gal. I. 8, 9) ne^e^arv for 
His own glory, man's salvation, fai'h and life, is 
either expressly set down, or necessarily contained in 
the Holy Scripture, unto which nothing at any time 
is to be added, whether by new revelation of the 
Spirit, or traditions of men. 

Nevertheless we acknowledge the (John vi. 45; 



THE LONDON ARTICLES OF FAITH. 281 

1 Cor. ii. 9-12) inward illumination of the Spirit of 
Go I to be necessary for the saving understanding of 
such things as are revealed in the word, and thai, 
there are some circumstances concerning the wor- 
ship of God and government of the church common 
to human actions and societies wiich are to be (2 
Cor. xi. 13, 14; xiv. 26, 40) ordered by the light of 
nature and Christian prudence according to the 
general rales of the word, which are always to be 
observed. 

Art. 7. All things in Scripture are not alike (1 
Peter, in. 16) plain in themselves, nor alike clear un- 
to all, yet those things which are necessary to be 
known, believed and observed for salvation are so 
(Psa. xix. 7; cxix. 130) clearly propounded and 
opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not 
only the learned, but the unlearned, in a dne use of 
ordinary means, may attain to a sufficient under- 
standing of them. 

Art. 8. The Old Testament in (Rom in. 2) He- 
brew (which was the native language of the people of 
God of old) and the New Testament in Greek, which 
(at the time of writing it) was most generally known 
to the nations, being immediately inspired by God, 
and by His singular care and providence kept pure in 
all ages, and therefore (Isa. vin. 20) authentical; so as 
in all controversies of religion, the church is finally 
to appeal unto them (Acts xv. 15). Bat because 
these original tongues are not known to all the peo- 
ple of Gcd, who have a right unto and an interest in 
the Scripture, and are commanded in the fear of 
God to read (John v. 39) and search them, therefore 
they are lobe translated into the vulgar language of 
every nation unto which they (1 Cor. xiv. 6, 9, 11, 12, 
24, 28) come, that the word of God dwelling (Col, in. 
16) plentifully in all, they may worship Him in an 



282 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

acceptable manner and through patience and com- 
fort of the Scripture may hope. 

Art. 9. The infallible rule of interpretation of the 
Scripture (2 Peter i.20, 21;Acts xv. 15,16) is the Scrip- 
ture itself, and therefore when there is a question 
about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which 
is not manifold, but one) it may be searched by other 
places that speak more clearly. 

Art.. 10. The supreme judge by which all controv- 
usies of religion are to be determined, and all de- 
crees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines 
of men and private spirits, are to be examined, and 
in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other 
but the Holy Scripture delivered by the Spirit, into 
which (Matt. xxn. 29, 23; Eph, II. 20;Acts xxvm. 23) 
Scripture so delivered our faith is finally resolved. 

CHAP. II. — OF GOD AND THE HOLY TRINITY. 

Art. I. The Lord our God is but (lCor. 
viii. 6; Deut. VI. 4) one only living and 
true God, whose (Jer. x. LO; Isa. xlviii. 12) sub- 
sistence is in and of Himself (Ex. in. 14), infinite in 
being and perfection, whose essence cannot be com- 
prehended by any but Himself (John iv. 24), a most 
pure Spirit (1 Thes. i. 17; Deut. iv. 15, 16), invisible, 
without body, parts or passions, who only hath im- 
mortality dwelling in the light which no man can 
approach unto, who is (Mai. in. 6) immutable (1 
Kings viii. 27; Jer. xxiii. 23), immense (Psa. xc. 2), 
enternal, incomprehensible (Gen. xvn. 1), almighty, 
every way infinite (Isa. vi. 3), most holy, most wise, 
most free, most absolute (Psa. cxv. 3; Isa. xlvi. 10) 
working all things according to the counsel of His 



THE LONDON ARTICLES OF FAITH. 283 

own immutable and most righteous will (Prov. xvi. 4; 
Rom. xr. 36) for His own glory, most loving, gracious 
merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and 
truth, forgiving iniquity, transgressions and sins 
(Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7; Heb. xi. 6), the rewarder of them 
that diligently seek Him, and withal most just 
(Nehe. ix. 32, 33) and terrible in His judgments (Psa. 
v. 5 6) , hating all sin, and will, no means clear the 
(Exod. xxxvi. 7; Nahum,i. 2, 3) guilty. 

Art, 2. God having all (John v. 26) life (Psa. 
cxlviii. 13), glory (Psa. cxix. 68), goodness, blessed- 
ness, in and of Himself, is alone in and unto Himself 
all sufficient, not (Job. xxn. 2,3) standing in any 
need of any creature which He hath made, nor de- 
riving any glory from them, but only manifesting 
His own glory in, by, unto and upon them. He is 
the alone fountain of all being (Rom. xi. 24-26), of 
whom, through whom and to whom are all things, 
and He hath most sovereign (Daniel, iv. 25, 34, 35) 
dominion over all creatures, to do by them, for them 
or upon them whatsoever Himself pleaseth. In His 
sight (Heb, iv. 13) all th ings are open and manifest. 
His knowledge is (Ezek. Vi. 5; Acts xv. 18) infinite, 
infallible and independent upon the creature, so as 
nothing is to Him contingent or uncertain. He is most 
holy in all counsels, in(Psa.cxiv. 17) all His works and 
in all His commands. To Him is due (Rev. 
v. 12, 14) from men and angels whatsoever worship, 
service or obedience as creatures they owe unto the 
Creator, and whatever He is further pleased to re- 
quire of them. 

Art. 3. In this divine and infiinite being there are 
three subsistences (1 John v. 6; Matt, xxvni. 19; 2 
Cor. xin. 14), the Father, the Word (or Son) and the 
Holy Spirit, of one substance, power and eternity, 



284 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

each having the whole Divine essence (Ex. in. 14; 
John xiv. 11; 1 Cor. vin. 6), yet the essence undivid- 
ed. The Father is of none, neither begotten nor pre- 
ceeding, the Son is (John I. 14, 18) eternally begotten 
of the Father, the Holy Spirit (John xv. 26; Gal. iv. 
6) proceeding from the Father and the Son, all inh- 
nate,-without beginning, therefore but one God, who is 
not to be divided in nature and being, but distin- 
guished by several peculiar, relative properties and 
personal relations; which doctrine of the Trinity is 
the foundation of all our communion with God and 
comfortable dependence upon Him. 

CHAP. III. — OF GOD'S DECREE. 

Art. 1. God hath (Isa. xlvi. 10; Eph. 
i. 11; Heb, vi. 17; Rom. ix. 15, 18) de- 
creed in Himself from all eternity, by the most wise 
and holy counsel of His own will, freely and un- 
changeably, all things whatsoever come to pass; yet 
so as thereby is God neither the author of sin (James 
i. 15, 17; 1 John i. 5), nor hath fellowship with any 
therein, nor is violence offered to the will of the crea- 
ture, nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second 
causes taken away, but rather (Acts I v. 27, 28; John 
xix. 11) established, in which appears His wisdom in 
disposing all things, and power and faithfulness 
(Num. xxiii. 19; Eph. i. 3, 5) in accomplishing His 
decree. 

Art. 2. Although God knoweth whatsoever may 
or can come to pass upon all (Acts xv. 18) supposed 
conditions, yet hath He not decreed anything (Rom. 
ix. 11, 13, 16, 18) because He foresaw it as future, or 
as that which would come to pass upon such condi- 
tions. 



THE LONDON ARTICLES OF FAITH. 285 

Art.3. By the decree of God, for the manifesta- 
ticn of His gloiy (1 Tim. vi 21; Matt. xxv. 41) seme 
men and angels are predestinated or foreor- 
dained to eternal life, through Jesus Christ, to the 
(Eph. I. 5, 6) praise of His glorious grace; others op- 
ing left to act in their sin to their (Rom. ix. 22, 23; 
Jude iv.) just condemnation, to the praise of His 
glorious justice. 

Art. 4. These angels and men thus predestinated 
and foreordained, are particularly and unchange- 
able designed; and their (2 Tim. n. 19; John viii. 18) 
number so certain and different that it cannot be 
either increased or diminished. 

Art. 5. Those of mankind (Eph. i. 4, 9, 11; Rom. 
viii. SO; 2 Tim. i. 9; 1 Thess. v. 9) that are predesti- 
nated to life, God before the foundation of the world 
was laid, according to His eternal, immutable pur- 
pose and secret counsel and good pleasure of His will 
hath chosen in Christ unto everlasting glory, out of 
His mere free grace and love (Rom. ix. 13, 16; Eph. 
ii. 9, 12), without anything in the creature as a con- 
dition or cause moving- him thereunto. 

Art. 6. As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, 
so He hath by the eternal and most free purpose 
of His foreordained (1 Peter, i. 2; 2 Thes. 
n.13) all the means thereunto; wherefore they who 
are elected, being fallen in Adam (1 Thess. v. 9, 10) 
are redeemed by Christ, are effectually (Rom. viii. 30; 
2 Thess, ii. 13) called unto faith in Christ, by his 
Spirit working in due season, are justified, adopted, 
sanctified and kept by His power through faith (2 
Peter I. 3) unto salvation; neither are any other re- 
deemed by Christ, or effectually called, justified, 
adopted, sanctified and saved, but the elect (John x. 
26, xvu. 9; vi. 44) only. 



286 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

Art. 7. The doctrine of this high mystery of pre- 
destination, is to be handled with special prudence 
and care, that men attending the will of God reveal- 
ed in His word, and yielding obedience thereunto, 
may from the certainty of their effectual vocation be 
lassured of their (1 Thess. i. 4, 5; 2 Peter i. 10) eterna 
election, so shall this doctrine afford matter (Eph. I. 
7; Rom. xi. 33) of praise, reverence and admiration 
of God, and (Rom. xi. 5, 6) of humility, diligence 
and abundant (Luke x. 20) consolation to all that 
sincerely obey the gospel. 

CHAP. IV. — OF CREATION. 

Art. 1. In the beginning it pleased God, the Father 
(John I. l,5;Heb.i.2;Job.xxvi.l3),So'n and Holy Spirit, 
for the manifestion of the glory of(Rom.i.20)His eter- 
nal power, wisdom and goodness, to create or make 
the world and ail things therein (Col. i. 16; Gen. n. 1, 
2), whether visible or invisible, in the space of six 
days, and all very good. 

Art. 2. After God had made all other creatures, 
He created (Gen. i. 27) man, male and female, with 
(Gen. ii. 7) reasonable and immortal souls, rendering 
them fit unto that life to God for which they were 
created, being (Eccl, vn. 29; Gen. I. 26)made after the 
image of God, in knowledge, righteousness and true 
holiness; having the law of God (Rom. n. 14, 15) 
written in their hearts, and power to fulfil it; and yet 
under a possibility of trangressing, being left to the 
liberty of their own will, which was (Gen. in. 6) sub- 
ject to a change. 

Art. 3. Besides the law written in their hearts, 
they received (Gen.i . 17; ill. 8-10) a command not to 



THE LONDON ARTICLES OF FAITH. 287 

eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil; which 
whilst they kept, they were happy in their commun- 
ion with God, and had dominion (Gen i. 26, 28) over 
the creatures. 

CHAP. V. — OF DIVINE PROVINCE. 

Art. 1. God, the Creator of all things; in His infinite 
power, wisdom, doth (Heb. i. 3; Job. xxxvni. 11; Isa, 
xlvi. 10, 11; Psa.v.6)uphold, direct, dispose and govern 
all creatures and things from the greatest even to the 
(Mat.x. 26.30,31) least, byHis most wise and holy prov- 
ience, to the end for which they were created, accord- 
ing unto his infallible foreknowledge and the free and 
immutable counsel of His (Ephe.i.ll)own will;to the 
praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, 
infinite goodness and mercy. 

Art. 2. Although in relation to.the foreknowledge 
and decree of God, the first cause, all things come to 
pass (Acts ii. 23) immutably and infallibly, so that 
there is not anything befalls any (Prov. xvi. 33) by 
chance or without His providence; yet by the same 
providence He ordereth them to fall out according to 
the nature of second causes, either (Gen.vm.22)neces- 
sarily, freely or contingently. 

Art. 3. God in his ordinary providence (Act xxvii. 
31, 44; Isa. lv. 10,11) maketh use of means; yet is free 
(Hos. iv. 7) to work without (Rom. iv. 19-21), above 
and (Dan. in. 27) against them at His pleasure. 

Art. 4. The Almighty power, unsearchable wis- 
dom and infinite goodness of God so far manifest 
themselves in His providence, that His determinate 
counsel (Rom. xi, 32-34; 2 Sam. xxiv. 1; 1st Chron. 
xxi. 1) extendeth itself even to the first fall and all 



288 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

other sinful actions both of angels and of men, and 
that not by bare permission; which also He most wisely 
and powerfully (2 Kings xix. 18; Psa. lxxvi. 10) 
boundeth and otherwise ordereth and governeth, in a 
manifold dispensation to his most holy (Gen. l. 20; 
Isa. x. 6, 7, 12) ends; yet so as the sinfulness of 
their act proceedeth only from the creatures and not 
from God, who being most holy and righteous, neith- 
er is, nor can be the author or (Psa. i. 21; 1 John n. 
16) appover of sin. 

Art. 5. The most wise, righteous and gracious God, 
doth oftentimes leave for a season, His own children 
to manifold temptations, and the corruptions of their 
own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, 
or to discover unto them the hidden strength of cor- 
ruption and deceitfulness of their hearts (2 Chron. 
xxxii. 25, 26, 31; 2nd Sam. xxiv. 1; 2 Cor. xn.7-9) 
that they may be humbled, and to raise them to a 
more close and constant dependence for their sup- 
port upon Himself, and to make them more watchful 
against all future occasions of sin, and for other just 
and holy ends. So that whatsoever befalls any of 
his elect, is by His appointment for His glory (Rom. 
viii. 28) and their good. 

Art. 6. As for those wicked and ungodly men whom 
God, as a righteous judge, for former sins, doth (Rom. 
1.24, 25,28 and xi. 7,8)blind and harden;from them He 
not only withholdethHis(Deut. xix .4) grace whereby 
they might have been enlightened in their under- 
standing, and wrought upon in their hearts, but some- 
times also withdraweth (Mat. xni.12) the gifts which 
they had, and exposeth them to such (Deut. n. 30; 
2nd Kings viii. 12, 13) objects as their corruptions 
make ocaasion of sin; and withal (Psa. lxxxi". 11, 
12; 2 Thes. n 10, 11) gives them over to their own 



THE LONDON ARTICLES OF FATH. 289 

lusts, and temptations of the world, and the power of 
satan, whereby it comes to pass that they (Ex. viii. 
15, 32; Isa. vi. 9, 10; 1 Pet. II. 7, 8) harden them- 
selves, even under the means which God useth for 
softening others. 

Art. 7. As the providence of God doth in general 
reach to all creatures, so after a more special manner 
it taketh care of His (1 Tim.iv. 10; Amos, ix. 8-9; Isa. 
xliii. 3, 5) church, and disposeth all things to the 
good thereof. 

CHAP. VI, — OF THtf FALL OF MAN; OF SIN, AND THE 
PUNISHMENT THEREOF. 

Art. 1. Although God created man upright and 
perfect, and gave him a righteous law, which had 
been unto life had he kept it (Gen 11. 16, 17) and 
threatened death upon the breach thereof; yet he did 
not long abide in this honor (Gen. 111. 12, 13; 2 Cor. 
xi. 3), Satan using the subtility of the serpent to seduce 
Eve, then by her seducing Adam, who without any 
compulsion did wilfully transgress the law of their 
creation and command given unto them in eating the 
forbidden fruit; which God was pleased according to 
His wise and holy counsel to permit, having purpose 
to order it to His own glory. 

Axt. 2. Our first parents by this sin fell from 
their (Rom. in. 23) original righteous communion 
with God, and we in them, whereby death came up- 
on all (Rom. v. 12, &c); all becoming dead in sin and 
wholly defiled (Titus 1. 15; Gen vi. 5; Jere. xvir. 9; 
Horn. in. 10-19) in all the faculties and parts of soul 
and body. 

Art. 3. They being the (Rom. v. 12-19; 1 Cor. xv. 

19 



290 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK, 

21, 22, 45,49) root, and by God's appointment standing" 
in the room and stead of all mankind, the guilt of the 
sin was imputed and corrupted nature conveyed to all 
their posterity descended from them by ordinary gen- 
eration, being now(Fsa. Li. 5: Job. xvi. 4.) conceived 
iu sin, and by nature children (Ephe. n 3) of wrath, 
the servants of Sin, the subjects (Rom. vr, 20; v. 12) of 
death, and all other miseries, spiritual, temporal 
and eternal, unless the Lord Jesn(Hib. it. 14; L 
Thes. 1. 10) set them free. 

Art. 4. From this original corruption, whereby 
we are (Rom. vii. 7; Col. i. 21) utterly indispose i, 
disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly 
inclined to all evil, do (James I. 14, 15; Matt. xv. 19) 
proceed all actual transgressions. 

Art. 5. This corruption of nature during this life, 
doth(Rom.vrr.l8,23;Eccl.vii.20;l John 1.18) remain in 
those that are regenerated ;and although it be through 
Christ pardoned and mortified, yet both itself and 
the first motions thereof are truly and properly (Rom. 
vn. 24, 25; Gal. v. 17) sin. 



Art, I. The distance between God 
and the creature is so great that although 
reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto 
him as their Creator, yet they could never have 
attained the reward of life, but by some (Luke xvri. 
10; Job. xxxv. 7, 8) voluntary condescension on God's 
part, which He hath been pleased to express by 
way of covenant. 

Art. 2. Moreover, man having brought (Gen. in „ 
17; Gal. in 10;.Rom.rn. 20, 21)himself under the curse 



THK LONDON ARTICLES OF FAITH, 291 

of the law by his fall, it pleased the Lord to make a 
covenant of grace, wherein He freely offered unto sin- 
ners(Rom. vin.3;\lark xvi, 15, 16;John rrr,16)life and 
salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in 
Him, that they may be saved; and (Eze. xxxvi. 26, 
27; John vi. 44. 45; Psa. ex. 3) promising to give unto 
all these that are ordained unto eternal life, His Holy 
Spirit, to make them willing and able to believe. 

Art. 3. This covenant is revealed in the gospel, 
and was first of all to Adam in the promise of salva- 
tion by the (Gen. in. 15) seed of woman, and after- 
war is by farther steps, until the full (Heb. I. 1) dis 
covery thereof was complete in the New Testa- 
ment; an d it is founded in that (2 Tim. i. 2) eternal 
covenant transaction that was between theFather and 
the Son, about the redemption of the elect; and it is 
alone by the grace of this covenant, that all of 
the posterity of fallen Adam, that ever were (Heb. 
VI. 6, .13;| Rom. 1V - 1 > 2 > &c.; Acts iv. 12; John vtit. 56) 
saved, did obtain life and a blessed immortality; man 
being now utterly incapable of acceptance with God 
upon those terms on which Adam stood in a state of 
Innocency. 

CHAP. VIII. — OF CHRIST THE MEDEATOR. 

Art. 1. It pleased God, in His eternal 
purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, 
His only begotten Son, according to the 
covenant made between them both (Isa. xliii. 1; 
1 Peter i, 9, 10) to be the Mediator between God and 
man, the (John vi. 14) Prophet, (Heb. v. 5, 6) Priest 
and (Psa, n. 6; Luke 1.33) King, (Eph. I. 23) Head and 
Savior of His church, the (Heb. i. 2) Heir of all things 
and (Acts xvn. 31) Judge of the world; unto whom 



292 FOOTSTEPS UJ' THK FLOCK.,..,. 

He did from all eternity (Isa. liii; John xyin G;Rom\. 
vjii. 30) give people, to be His seed, and to be by Him 
in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified and 
glorified. . 

Art. 2. The Son of God, the second person in the 
Holy Trinity, being very and eternal God, the bright- 
ness of the Father's glory, of one substance and 
equal with him, who made the world, who upholdeth 
and governeth all things He hath made, did when the 
fullness of time was come, take upon Him (John i r 
14; Gal.iv. 4) man's nature, with all the essential prop- 
erties and common infirmities thereof (Rom. viu. 3* 
Heb. n. 14, 16, 17; iv. |5), yet without sin; being con : 
ceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the -virgin 
Mary, the Holy Spirit coming down upon ber, and the 
power of the Most High overshadowing her (Luke i. 
27, 31, 35), and so was made of a woman of the tribe 
of Judah, of the seed of Abraham and David, accord- 
ing to the Scripture, , so that two whole, .perfect and 
d stinct natures were inseparably joined together in 
one person, without conversion, composition, or con- 
fusion; which person is very God, and very man, yet 
one (Rom. ix. 5; 1 Tim. n. 2) Christ, the only Media^ 
tor between God and Man. 

Art. ,3. The Lord, Jesus in His. human, nature thus 

united to the divine, in the person of the Son, was 

r sanctified and annointed. (Fsa. xlv. 7: Acts x. 38; 

'John in. 34) with the Holy Spirit above measure, 

'reaving in Him (Col. it. 3) all the treasures of wis- 

xtorn and knowledge, in whom it pleased the Father 

: ihat (Col. i: 19y all 'fullness should dwell: 

^the end that, being (Hob. vn. 26) holy, harmless, 

Sn^iefiled, and full (John i. 14) of grace and truth, 

®B$. might be thoroughly ftirriished to execute the of- 

d Bc% of a mediator and (Heb. vii. 22V surety; which 
rood , ^ 



THE LONDON ARTICLES OF FAITH. 293 

9ffice he took not upon Himself, but was thereunto 
(Heo. v. 5) called by His Father, who also put (John 
v. 22, 27; Matt, xxvirr. 18; Acts n. 36) all power and 
judgment in His hands and gave Him commandment 
to execute the same. 

. . Art. 4. This office the Lord Jesus did most ,(Psa, 
XL. 7,8; Heb. x. 5, ll;John x. 18) willingly undertake, 
which that He might discharge, He was made under 
the law (Gal. iv. 4; Matt. in. 15) and did perfectly 
fulfill it, and underwent the (Gal. in. 18; Isa. liii. 6; 
1 Peter iil 18) punishment due to us, which we 
should have borne and suffered, being made (2 Cor. v. 
21) sin and a curse for us, enduring most grevious 
soi rows (Matt, xxvl 37, 38; Luke xxn. 44; Matt 
xxvn. 46) in His soul, and most painful sufferings in 
His body; was crucified and died, and remained in 
the state of the dead, yet saw no (Acts xin. 37) cor- 
ruption. On the (L Cor. xv. 3, 4) third day He arose 
from the dead in the same body inwhich he suffered 
(John xx. 25. 27);with which He also(Mark xvi.l9;Act. 
1. 9-11) asended into Heaven, and there sitteth on the 
light hand of His Father (Pom. vrr. 34; Heb. ix. 24) 
making intercession, and shall (Acts x. 42; Rom. xiv. 
6, 10; Acts i. 11) return to judge men and angels at 
the end of the world. 

Art. 5. The Lord Jesus, by His perfect obedience 
and sacrifice of Himself, which He through the eter- 
nal Spirit once offered up unto God (Heb. xi. 14; 
x. 14; Pom. in. 25, 26) hath fully satisfied the jus- 
tice of God, procured reconciliation, and purchased 
an everlasting inheritance in the kingdon of Heaven, 
(John xvii. 2; Heb. ix. 15) for all those whom y the 
Father hath given unto Him. 

Art.6. Although the price of redemption was not 
actually paid by Christ until after His incarnation (I 



294 FOOTSTJ PS OV TEE FLOCK. 

Cor. x. 4; Heb. vi. 2; 1 Peter x. 11), yet the virtue,. 

efficacy and benefit thereof was communicate;! to tho 
elect in all a^es successively, from the beginning of 
of the world, in and by those promises, types and sac- 
rifices wherein He was revealed, and signified to be 
the seed of the woman, which should bruise the ser- 
pvU'sh^il (Et)/. x[[[, J) -ill t'i3 Lin) si li a fro ra- 
the foundation of the woild (Heb. xiti. 8) being the 
same yesterday, and today and forever. 

Art. 7. Christ in the work of mediation, acteth 
according to both natures, by each nature doing that 
which is proper to itself, yet by reason of the unity 
of the person, that which is proper to one nature is 
sometimes in Scripture attributed to the person (John 
in. 13; Acts xx. 28' denominated by the other 
nature. 

Art. 8. To all those for whom Christ hath obtain- 
ed eternal redemption, He doth certainly and effect- 
ually (John vr. 37; x, 15, 16; xvii, 9; Rom. v. 
10) apply and communicate the same, making inter- 
cession for them; uniting them to himself by His 
Spirit, (John xvii. 6; Eph. I. 9; 1 John v. 20) reveal- 
ing unto them, in and by the word, the mystery of 
salvation; persuading them to believe and obey (Rom. 
vjii, 9, 13; Psa. ex. 1), governing their hearts by 
His word and Spirit, and (1 Chron. xv. 25, 26) over- 
coming their enemies by His almighty power and 
wisdom, in such manner and ways as are most con- 
sonant to His wonderful and (John in. 8; Eph. i. 8 
unsearchable dispensation, and all of free and abso 
lute grace, without any condition forseen in them to 
procure it. 

Art. 9. The office of mediator between God and 
man, is proper (Tim.if. 5) only to Christ, who is the 
Prophet, Priest and King of the church of God; and 



THti LONDON ARTICLES OF FAITH. 295 

may not be either in whole or any part thereof trans- 
ferred from him to any other. 

Art. 10. This number and order of offices are nec- 
essary; for in respect of our (John i. 18)ignorance, we 
stand in need of His prophetical office; and in respect 
to our alienation from God (Col. t. 21; Gal. v. 17) 
and imperfection, of the best of our services, we need 
His priestly office to reconcile us and 
present us acceptable unto God; and in 
our averseness and utter inability to return 
to God, and for our rescue and security from 
our spiritual adversaries, we need His kingly offjc 
(John xvi. 8; Psa. ex. 3) to convince, subdue, draw, 
uphold, deliver and preserve us to His heavenly king 
dom. 

CHAP. IX. — OF FREE WILL. 

Art. 1. God hath indued the will of man 
with that natural liberty and power of 
acting upon choice, that it is (Matt. xvri. 2; Ja^n m 
t. 14; Deut. xxx. 19) neither forced nor by any neces- 
sity of nature determined to good or evil. 

Art. 2. Man in his state of innocency had free- 
dom and power to will and to do that (Eccl. vit. 29) 
which was good and well pleasing to God but yet 
(Gen. in. 6) was mutable so that he might fall 
from it. 

Art. 3. Man by his fall into a state of sin hath 

wholly lost (Rom. v. 6; vin.7)all ability of will to any 

spiritual good accompanying salvation;so as a natural 

man, being altogether averse from good (Ephe. n. 1, 

5) and dead in sin, is not able by his own strength 



206 FOOTSTEPS OF'THtfl FLOCK. 

(Titus in. 3-5; John VI. 44) to convert himself, or ■ o 
prepare himself thereunto, 

Arf. 4 When God converts a sinner and trans- 
lates him into the state of grace (Col. I. 13; John vnr. 
36) He freeth him from his natural bondage under sin, 
and by His grace alone, enables him (Phil n. 13) free- 
ly to will and to do that which is spiritually good; yet 
so as that, by reason of His(Rom. vn. 15, 18,19. 21, 23) 
remaining corruptions he doth not perfectly nor only 
will that which is good, but doth also will that which 
is evil. 

Art. 5. The will of man is made (Ephe. tv. 13) per- 
fectly and immutably free to good alone in the estate 
of glory only. 

CHAP. X. — OF EFFECTUAL CALLING, 

Art. 1. Those whom God hath predestinated 
unto life. He is pleased in His appointed and 
accepted time (Rom viii. 30; xr. 7; Eph. r. 10,. 
11; 2 Thes. II. 13, 14) effectually to call by 
his word and Spirit out of that state of sin and death 
into which they are by nature, to grace and salva- 
tion (Ephe. n. 1-6) by Jesus Christ;enlightening their 
minds spiritually and savingly to (Acts xxvi. 18; 
Eph. r. 17, 18) understand the things of God; 
taking away their (Eze. xxxvi. 26) heart of stone, and 
giving unto them an heart of flesh; renewing their 
wills, and by His almighty power, determining them 
(Deut. xxx. 6; Eze. xxxvi. 27; Ephe. i. 9) to- that 
which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus 
Christ; yet so as they come (Psa. ex. 3; Canticles i. 
4) most freely, being made willing by His grace. 

Art. 2. This effectual call is of God's free and 



THE LONDON ARTICLES OF FAITH. 297 

special grace alone (2 Tim. I. 9; Eph. n. 8), not for 
anything at all foreseen in man, nor from any power 
or agency in the creature co-working with His 
special grace (1 Cor. n. 14; Ephe. n. 5, John x. 25), 
the creature being wholy passive therein, being dead 
in sin and trespasses, until being quickened and renew- 
ed by the Holy Spirit, he is thereby enabled to an- 
swer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and 
conveyed in it, and that by no less (Eph. I. 19, 20) 
power than that which raised up Christ from the 
dead. 

Art/3. Elect infants dying in infancy are (John, 
in. 5, 6) regenerated and saved by Christ through the 
Spirit, who worketh when and where and how He 
pleaseth; so also are all other elect persons, who are 
incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry 
of the word. 

Art. 4. Others not elected, although they may be 
called by the ministry of the word (Matt. xxii. 14; 
xiii' 20, 21; Heb. vi. 4. 5) and may have some com- 
mon operations of the Spirit, yet not being effectual- 
ly drawn by the Father, they neither will nor can 
truly (John vi. 44, 45, 65; 1 John .n 24, 25) come to 
Christ, and therefore cannot be saved; much less can 
men that receive not the Christian religion (Acts iv. 
12; John iv. 22,; xvn. 3) be saved, be they never so 
diligent to frame their lives according to the light of 
nature, and the law of that religion they do profess. 

CHAP. XI. — OF JUSTIFCATION. 

Art. 1. Those whom God effectually 
calleth, He also freely (Rom. in. 24; vn. 30) 
justifieth, not by infusing righteousness unto them, 



298 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

but by (Rom. iv. 5-8; Eph. I. 7) pardoning their sins 
and by accounting and accepting their persons as (1 
Cor. I. 30, 31; Rom. v. 17-19) righteous, not for 
anything wrought in them or done by them, but for 
Christ's sake alone, not by imputing faith itself, the 
act of believing, or any other (Philip, in. 8, 9; Eph. 
ii. 8, 9; ii. 8-10) evangelical obedience to them, as 
their righteousness, but by imputing Christ's active 
obedience unto the whole law and passive obedience 
in his faith, for their whole and and sole righteousness; 
they (John i. 12; Rom. v. 17) receiving and resting 
on Christ and His righteousness, by faith, which 
they have not of themselves; it is the gift of God. 

Art. 2. Faith, thus receiving and resting on 
Christ and His righteousness, is the (Rom. in. 28) 
alone instrument of justification, yet it is not alone 
in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all 
other saving graces, and is no dead faith (Gal. v. 6; 
James ii. 17, 22, 26), but worketh by love. 

Art. 3. Christ, by His obedience and death, did 
fully discharge the debt of all those that are justified 
and did by the sacrifice of Himself, in the blood of 
His cross, undergo in their stead the penalty due 
unto them, make a proper, real and full satisfaction 
(Heb. x. 14; 1 Peter i. 18, 19; Isa. in. 5, 6) to God's 
justice in their behalf, yet inasmuch as He was given 
of the Father for them, and His obedience and satis- 
faction accepted in their stead, and both (Rom. viti. 
32; 2 Cor. v. 21) freely, not for anything in them, 
their justification is only of free grace, that both the 
exact justice and rich grace of God might be (Rom. 
in. 26; Eph. i. 6, 7; n. 7) glorified in the justification 
of sinners. 

Art. 4. God did from all eternity decree to (Gal. 
in. 8; 1 Peter i. 2; 1 Tim. n. 6) justify all the elect, 



THE LONDON ARTICLES OF FAITH. 299 

and Christ did in the fullness of time die for their 
sins, and (Rom iv. 25) rise again for their justifica- 
tion. Nevertheless they are not justified personally 
until the Holy Spirit doth in due time (Col. I 21, 22; 
Titus in. 4 7) actually apply Christ unto them. 

Art. 5. God doth continue to (Matt. xi. 12; John i. 
7, 9) forgive the sins of those that are justified; and 
although they can never fall from the state of (John 
x. 28) justification, yet they may by their sins fall 
under God's(Psa. lxxxix. 31, 33) fatherly displeasure 
and in that condition, they have not usually the light 
of His counternance restored unto them, until they 
(Psa. li. 7-12; Matt. xxxc. 75) humble themselves, 
confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their faith 
and repentance. 

Art. 6. The justification of believers under the Old 
Testament was in all these respects (Gal. in. 9; Rom* 
xxii. 22-24) one and the same with the justification of 
of believers under the New Testament. 

CHAP. XII. — OF ADOPTION. 

Art. 1. All those that are justified, God 

vouchsafed in and for the sake of His Son, 

Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace 

(Eph. i. 5; Gal. ix. 4, 5) of adoption, by which they 

are taken into the number, and enjoy the liberties 

and (John i. 12; Rom xin. 17) privileges of children 

of Gcd, have His (2 Cor. vi. 18; Rev. in. 12) name 

put upon them, (Rom. vnt. 15) receive the Spirit of a- 

doption, (Gal. v. 6; Eph. 2 . 18) have access to the 

throne of grace with boldness, are enabled to cry 

Abba, Father, are (Psa. cm, 13) pitied, (Prov. xiv. 26) 

protected, (1 Peter i. 7) provided for, and (Heb. xn. 



300 FOOTSTEPS. OF THE FLOCK. 

..''■• ■ i ' ' ■ ■ 

6),chastened by Him, as by a father, yet never (fsa., 
liv. 8, 9; Lam. in. 31) cast off, but sealed (Eph, iv.39) 
to the day of redemption, and inherit the promises, 
(Heb. i. 14; vi. 12, as heirs of everlasting solvation. 

.f a to I, 

CHAP. XIII. — OF SANCTIFICATION. 

(f:i<) V ' ; 

Art. 1. They who are united to Christ, 
effectually called, and regenerated, having a 
new heart (Acts xxi. 32; Rom. vi. 5, 6) and new 
spirit created in them through the virtue of Christ's 
death and resurrection, and also further sanctfied, 
really and personally, through the same virtue' 
(John xxii. 17; Eph. iv. 16-19; 1 Thess. v. 21-23) by 
Hi§) woi'dand, Spirit dwelling in them (Rom. vi. 14), 
the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed 
QGal.,5 . 14, 24),and the several lusts thereof are more 
and more weakened and mortified, and they are more 
and more quickened and (Col. i. 11) strengthened in 
all saving graces, to the (2 Cor. vn. lj Heb. xin. 14) 
practice of all true holiness, without which no man 
shall see the Lord. 

Art. I, This sanctfication is (1 Thess. 5. 23) 
throughout in the whole man, yet imperfect (Rom. 
Viil 18,, 23) in this life; there abideth still some rem- 
nant of corruption in every part, whence ariseth a 
(Gal. 5, 17; 1 Peter n. 11) continual and irreconcil- 
able war, the flesh lusting against the Spirit and the 
Spirit against the flesh. 

Art. 3. In which war although the remaining cor- 
ruption for a time may much (Rom. vu. 23) prevail, 
yet through the continual supply of strength from 
t}ie sanctifying Spirit of Christ (Rom. vi. 14), the re- 
generate part doth overcome and so the saints grow 



CHAP. XIV. — OF SAVING FAITH. 



THE LONDON ARTICLES OF FAITH. 301 

.;<■:■., ><imt8ti • ! 0£ 

in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (Eph. 
4. 15, 16; 2 Cor. ill. 18; vil. 1), pressing after a 
heavenlv life, in evangelical obedience to all the 
commands which Christ, as Head and King, in His 

word hath prescribed to them. 

•■' t f •■*<« 

v .moH 

ii : : i i Ttib Jf to 

Art. 1. The grace of faith, whqrei^ 
f the elect are enabled to believe to the sav- 
ing of their souls, is the work of the spirit rf&f 
. Christ (2 Cor. vi. 13; Eph. rr. 8) in their hearts," ap4 
is ordinarily wrougth by the ministry of the (Rom. x. 
14, 17) word, by which also, and by the administra- 
tion of baptism and the . Lord's supper, prayer and 
ether means appointed of God, it is increased (rliUke 
xvrr. 6; 1 Pet. ir, 2; Acts xx. 32) and strengthened. 

, .Art. 2.. By this faith as OlLris:tiari- : ;beiieyetih .^Q.nfee 
true (Acts xxtv. 14) whatsoever is revealed in the 
word on the authority of God Himself, and also ap- 
prehendeth an excellency therein (Psa. xtx. 7-10; 
cxix. 72) above all other writings, and all thife^s in 
the world, as it bears forth the glorf ^>G^£'in TOs 
attributes, the excellency of Christ in His nature and 
offices, and the power arid fullness of the ; Hbl^ 
Spirit in His working and operattonsv and: so is ( leii- 
abledito (2 Tim. i. 13) cast his soul upon .th&Atruth 
/thus believed, and; also actqth differently upQPb j^hat 
which each particular passage thereof ^ce^aine^; 
;yielding obedience to the (John xv. 14} commands, 
trembling at the (Isa. lxvl, 2) threateningSv anoVTrn- 
bracing the (Heb. -xi. 13) promises of. G,o^i !j fe^ h\lf& s 
life and that which is to come, but the principal] ^apts 
-of saving faith have immediate relations to Cb>ris$, 

noij 



302 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

accepting, receiving and resting upon (John i. 12: 
Acts xvi. 31; Gal. n. 20; Acts xv. 11) Him alone for 
justification, sanctification and eternal life, by vir- 
ture of the covenant of grace. 

Art. 3. This faith, although it be different in de- 
grees and may be weak (Heb. v. 13, 14; Matt. vi. 30; 
Rom. vr, 19, 20) or strong, yet it is in the least degree 
of it different in the kind or nature of it (as is all 
other saving grace) from the faith (2 Pet. i. 1) and 
common grace of temporary believers, and therefore, 
though it may be many times assailed and weakened, 
yet it gets (Eph. vi. 16; 1 John v. 45) the victory, 
growing up in many to the attainment of a full (Heb. 
vi. 11, 12; Col. ii; 2) assurance through Christ, who 
is both the author (Heb. xri. 2) and finisher of our 
faith. 

CHAP. XV. — OF REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE AND SALVA- 
TION. 

Art. I. Such of the elect as are converted at riper 
years,having (Tit. in. 2, 5) for some time lived in the 
state of nature, and therein served divers lusts and 
pleasures,God in their effectual calling giveth them 
repentance unto life. 

Art. 2. Whereas there is none that doeth good 
and sinneth (Eccl. vn. 20) not, and the best of men 
may, through the power and deceitfulness of sin and 
corruption dwelling in them, with the prevalency of 
temptation, fall into greater sins and provocations, 
God hath in the covenant of grace mercifully provid- 
ed that believers so sinning and falling (Luke xxei. 
31, 32) be renewed through repentance unto salva- 
tion. 



THE LONDON ARTICLES OF FAITH. 303 

Art. 3. This saving repentance is an (Zech. xn. 
]0; Acts. xj. 18) evangelical grace, whereby a person 
being by the Holy Spirit made sensible of the mani- 
fold evils of his sins doth by faith in Christ hum- 
ble himself for it. with godly sorrow, detestation of 
it, and self abhorency (Eze. xxxvr. 31; 2 Cor. vn. 11), 
praying for pardon and strength of grace, with a 
purpose and endeavor by supplies of the Spirit to 
(Psa. cxix. 6, 128) walk before God unto all well- 
pleasing in all things. 

Art. 4. As repentance is to be continued through 
the whole course of our lives, upon the account of 
the body of death and motions thereof, so it is every 
man's. duty to repent of his (Luke xix. 8; 1 Tim. i. 
13, 15) particular known sins, particularly. 

Art. 5. Such is the provision which God hath 
made throrgh Christ in the covenant of grace for the 
preservation of believers unto salvation, that although 
there is no sin so small but that it deserves (Rom. vi, 
23) damnation, yet there is no sin so great that it 
shall bring damnation on them that (Isa, i. 16-18; lv 
7) repent, which makes the constant preaching of 
repentance necessary. 

CHAP. XVI. — OF GOOD WORKS. 

Art. 1. Good works are only such as God hath 
(Micah, vi. 8; Heb. xiii. 21) commanded in His holy 
word and not such as without the warrant thereof , are 
devised by men, out of blind zeal (Matt. xv. 9; Isa- 
xix. 13), or upon any pretense of good intentions. 

Art. 2. These good works, done in obedience to 
God's commandments are the fruits and evidences 
(James n. 18, 22) of a true and lively faith, and by 



304 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

them believers manifest their(Psa.cxvi.l.2,13)thankful 
ness, strengthening their (1 John tti. 5; 2 Pdter i. 5- 
11) assurence, edify their (Matt. v. 16) brethren, a- 
dorn the profession of the gospel, stop the mouths of 
the adversaries, and glorify (1 Tim. vr. 1; 1 Peter ii. 
15; Phil. i. 11) God, whose workmanship they are, 
created in Christ Jesus (Eph. n. 10) thereunto, that 
having their fruits unto holiness, they may have the 
end (Rom. vi. 23), eternal life. 

Art. 3. Their ability to do good works is not at 
all of themselves, but wholly from the Spirit(John xv. 
4, 5) of Christ, and that they may be enabled there- 
unto, besides the graces they already have received, 
there is necessary an (2 Cor. rn. 5; Philip it. 13) ac- 
tual influence of the same Holy Spirit to work in them 
to will and to do of His good pleasure, yet are they 
not hereupon to grow negligent, as if they were 
not bound to perform any duty, unless upon a special 
motion of the Spirit, but they ought to be diligent in 
Phil. if. 13, Heb. vi. 1L, 12; Isa, lxiv. 7) stirring up 
the grace of God that is in them. 

Art. 4. They who in their obedience attain to the 
greatest height which is possible in this life, are so 
far from being able to supererogate and do more than 
God requires, as that (Job. ix. 2, 3; Gal. v. 17; Luke 
xvii. 10) they fall short of much which in duty they 
are bound to do. 

Art. 5. We cannot by our best works merit pardon 
of sin, or life eternal, at the hand of God, by reason 
of the great disproportion that is between us and the 
glory to come, and the infinite distance that is between 
u? and God, whom by them we can neither profit nor 
satisfy for the debt of our (Rom. in. 20; Eph. it. 8, 9; 
Rom. ii. 6) former sins, but when we have done all we 
can, we have done but our duty and are unprofitable ser 



THE LONDON ARTICLES OF FATH. 3(5 

vants and because as they are good they proceed from 
His (Gal, v. 22, 23) Spirit, and as they are wrought by 
us; they are defiled (Isa. lxil 6; Psa. cxliii. 2) and 
mixed with so much weakness and imperfection 
that they cannot endure the severity of God's judg- 
ment. 

Art. 6. Yet notwithstanding, the persons of be- 
lievers being accepted through Christ, their good 
works are also accepted in (Eph. i. 6; 1 Peter ii. 5) 
Him, not as though they were in this life wholly un- 
blamable and unreproachable in God's sight, but 
that He, looking upon them in His Son, is pleased 
to accept and reward that which is (Matt. xxv. 21, 23; 
Heb. vi. 10) sincere, although accompanied with 
many weaknesses and imperfections. 

Art. 7. Works done by unregenerated men, al- 
though for the matter of them they be things which 
God commands and of good use, both to themselves 
and (2 Kings x. 30; 1 Kings xxi. 27, 29) others, yet 
because they proceeded not from a heart purified by 
(Gen.iiv. 5;Heb.xi,4,6) faith, or done in a right man- 
ner, according to the (1 Cor. xm. 1) word, nor to a 
right end, the (Matt. vi. 2, 6) glory of God, they are 
sinful and cannot please God, nor make a man meet 
to receive grace from (Amos. v. 21; 22; Rom. ix. Ifi; 
Titus ui. 5) God, and yet their neglect of them is 
more sinful, and (Job. xx i. 14, 15; Matt. xxv. 41 43} 
displeasing to God. 

CHAP. XVll. — OF THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS, 

Art. I. Those whom God hath accepted in the be- 
loved, effectually called and sanctified by His Spirit, 
and given the precious faith of His elect unto, can 

20 



806 FOOTSTEJ S OF THE FLOCK. 

neither totally nor finally fall from the state of grace 
(John x. 28, 29; Phil. l. 6; 2 Tim. n. 19; John II. 19) 
but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and 
he eternally saved, seeing the gifts and callings of 
God are without repentance, whence He still begets 
and nourishes in them, faith, repentance, 
love, joy, hope and all the graces of Spirit 
unto immortality; and though many storms 
and floods arise and beat against them, yet 
they shall never be able to take them off that 
foundation and rock, which by faith they are fasten- 
ed upon, notwithstanding, through unbelief and the 
temptations of Satan, the sensible sight of the light 
and love of God may for a time be clouded and ob- 
secured from (Psa. lxxxix. 31, 32; 1 Cor. xr.22) them, 
yet it is still the same (Mai. nr, 6), and they shall be 
sure to be kept by the power of God unto salvation, 
where they shall enjoy their purchased possession, 
they being engraved upon the palms of His hands, 
and their names having been written in the book of 
life from all eternity. 

Art. 2. This perseverance of the saints depends 
not upon their own free will, but upon the immuta- 
bility of the decree of (Rom. vrii. 30; Rom. ix. 11, 16) 
election, flowing from the free and unchangeable 
love of God the Father, upon the efficacy of the merit 
and intercession of Jesus Christ (Rom. v. 9, 10; John 
xiv. 19) and union with Him, the (Heb. vi. 17-18) 
oath of God, the abiding of His Spirit and the (1 John 
in. 9) seed of God within them, and the nature of 
the (Jer. 32, 40) covenant of grace, from all which 
ariseth also, the certainty and infallibility thereof. 

Art. 3. And although they may, through the* 
temptations of Satan and of the world, theprevaiency 
of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of 



THtt LONDON ARTICLES OF FAITH, 307 

means of their preservation, fall into grievous 
(Matt. xxvi. 70, 72, 74) sins, and for a time continue 
therein, whereby they incur (Isa. lxlv. 5, 9; Eph. tv. 
50) God's displeasure, and grieve His Holy Spirit, 
come to have their graces and (Psa. n. 10, 12) com- 
forts impaired, have their hearts hardened and their 
consciences wounded (Psa. xxxii. 3, 4) and hurt, and 
scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments (2 
S am. xn. 14) upon themselves, yet they shall renew 
their (Luke xx. 32, 61, 62) repentance, and be pre- 
served through faith in Jesus, to the end. 

CHAP. XVlir. — THE ASSURANCE OF GRACE AND 
SALVATION, 

Art. 1. Although temporary believers and other 
unregenerate men may vainly deceive themselves 
with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in 
the favor of God and state of salvation (Job. vm. 
13, 14; Matt; vn. 22, 23), which hope of theirs shall 
perish, yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus 
and love Him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk in 
all good conscience before Him, may in this life be 
certainly aeeuied (1 John n. 3; 1 Johnni. 14, 18, 19, 
21, 24; 1 John v. 13) that they are in the state of grace 
and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, 
which hope shall never make them (Rom. v. 2, 5) 
ashamed. 

Art. 2. This certainly is not bare conjecture and 
probable persuasion, grounded upon (Heb. vi. 11, 10) 
a fallible hope, but an infallible assurance of faith, 
founded on the blood and righteousness of Christ 
i^Heb. vi. 17, 18) revealed in the gospel, and also up- 
on the inward (2 Pet. i. 6, 5, 10, 11) evidence of those 



308 VO )TSTEPS OF THE FLOCK, 

graces of the Spirit, unto which promises are mid* 3 , 
and on the testimony of the (Rom. viii. 15, IQ) Spirit 
of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we aie 
the children of God, and as a fruit thereof keeping 
the heart both (1 John in. 1-3) humble and holy. 

Art. 3. This infallible assurance doth not so be- 
long to th^ essence of faith, but that a true believer 
may wait long and conflict with many difficulties be- 
fore he be (Tsa. I 10; Psa. Lxxxvrn; lxxvit, 1-12) par- 
taker of it, yet being enabled by the Spirit to know 
things which are freely given him of God. he may, 
without extraordinary revelation, in the right use of 
means (1 John iv. 13; Heb. vi. 11, 12) attain there- 
unto, and therefore it is the duty of every one to give 
diligence, to make his calling and election sure, 
that thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and 
joy in the Holy Spirit, in love and thankfulness to 
God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties 
of obedience, the proper (Rom. v. 1, 2, 5; xiv. 17; Psa. 
cxix. 32) fruits of this assurance, so far is it (Rom. 
vi, 1, 2; Titus ii. 11, 12, 14) from inclining men to 
licentiousness. 

Art. 4. True believers may have the assurance 
of their salvation divers ways shaken, diminished 
and intermitted, as (Cant. v. 2, 3, 6) by negligence 
in preserving of it;by(Psa.n.8,12,14)fall into some spec- 
ial sin, which woundeth the conscience and grieveth 
the Spirt; by some sudden or (Psa.cxvi.ll;Lxxvit.7, 8; 
xxxi. 22) vehement temptation; by God withdrawing 
the(Psa.xxx.7)light of His countenance, t t nd suffering 
even such as fear Him, to walk in darkness, and to 
have no light; yet are they never destitute of the 
(1 John in.9)grace of God, and life (Luke xxn. 32) of 
faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sin- 
cerity of heart, and conscience of duty, out of which, 

20a 



THE LC^DON ARTICLES OF FAITH. cOD 

by the operation of the Spirit, this assurance may in 
due time be (Psa. xLir. 5, 11) revived, and by which 
in the meantime they are (Lam, ill. 26, 31) preserved 
from utter dispair. 

CHAF, XIX, — OF THE LAW OF GOD. 

Art. 1. God gave to Adam a law of uni- 
versal obedience (Gem n„ 27; Eccl. vli. 29) 
written in his heart, and a particular precept 
of not eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of 
good and evil; by which He bound him and all his 
posterity to personal, entire, exact and perpetual 
(Rom. x. 5) obedience; promised life upon fulfilling, 
and (Gal. in. 10, 12) threatened death upon the 
breach of it, and endued him with power and ability 
to keep it. 

Art. 2. The same law that was first written in 
the heart of man (Rom. n. 14, 15), continued to be a 
perfect rule of righteousness after the fall, and was 
delivered by God upon the Mount Sinai in (Deut, x. 
4) ten commandments, and written in two tables, the 
first four containing our duty toward God, and the 
other six our duty to man. 

Arit. 3- Besides the law, commonly called moral, 
God was pleased to give the people of Israel, ceremon- 
nial laws, containing several typical ordinances, part- 
ly of worship(Heb. x. 1; Col.n. 17)prefiguring Christ, 
His graces, actions, sufferings and benefits, and 
partly holding forth divers instructions(l Cor. v. 7) of 
moral duties; all which ceremonial laws, being ap- 
pointed only to the time of reformation, are, by Jesus 
Christ, the true Messiah and only Lawgiver, who was 
furnished with power from the Father for that end 



310 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK 

(Col. II. 14, 16, 17; Eph. if. 14, 16) abrogated and tak 
en away. 

Art. 4. To them also He gave sundry judicial 
laws, which expire together with the state of that 
people, not obliging any now by the virtue of that 
institution; their general (1 Cor. ix. 8-10) equity only 
being of moral use. 

Art. 5. The moral law doth forever bind all (Rom, 
xin. 8-10; James in 8, 10-12), as well justified per- 
sons as others, to the obedience thereof, and that not 
only in regard of the matter contained in it, but also 
in respect of the (James n. 10, 11) authority of God, 
the Creator, who gave it; neither doth Christ in the 
gospel any way dissolve (Matt. v. 17-19; Rom. in. 31} 
but much strengthen this obligation. 

Art. 6. Although true believers be not under the 
law, as a covenant of works (Rom. vi. 14; Gal. in 16; 
Rom. vtn. 1; x. 4), to be thereby justified or com- 
demned, yet it is of great use to them, as well as to 
others, in that, as a rule of life, informing them of 
the will of God and their duty, it directs and binds 
them to walk accordingly (Rom. rn. 20; vn, 7, &c.) 
discovering also the sinful pollutions of their natures, 
hearts and lives, so as examining themselves thereby 
they may come to further conviction of humiliation 
for, and hatred against sin; together with a clear 
sight of the need they have of Christ, and the perfec- 
tion of His obedience. It is likewise of use to the re- 
generate, to restrain their corruptions, in that it 
forbids sin; and the threatenings of it serve to show 
what even their sins deserve, and what afflictions in 
this life they may expect for them, although freed 
from the curse and unalloyed rigor thereof. These 
promises of it likewise show them God's approbation 
of obedience, and what blessings they may expect up- 



TtfE LONDON AtiTICLKS OF FAITH. 311 

on the performance thereof, though not as due to them 
by the law as a covenant of works; so as man's doing 
good, and refraining from evil, because the law eu- 
courageth to the one and deterreth from the other, is 
no evidence of his being (Rom. vi. 12, 14; 1 Peter Hi. 
8-13) under the law, and not under grace. 

Art. 7. Neither are the f orementioned uses of the 
law (Gal. iir. 21) contrary to the grace of the gospel, 
but do sweetly comply with it, the Spirit of Christ 
subduing (Eze. xxxvii. 21) and enabling the will of 
man to do freely and cheerfully, what the will of 
God, revealed in the law, requireth to be done. 

CHAP. XX. — OF THE GOSPEL; AND OF THE EXTENT OF 
GRACE THEREOF. 

Art. 1. The covenant of works being broken by 
sin, and made unprofitable unto life, God was 
pleased to give forth the promise of Christ (Gen. in. 
15) the seed of the woman, as the means of calling 
the elect, and begetting in them faith and repentance; 
in this promise, the (Rev. viii. 8) gospel, as to the 
substance of it, was revealed, and was therein effectual 
for the conversion and salvation of sinners. 

Art. 2. This promise of Christ, and salvation 
by Him, is revealed only by (Rom. i. 17) 
the word of God; neither do the works of 
creation or providence, with the light of nature(Rom. 
x. 14, 15, 17) make discovery of Christ, or of grace by 
Him, so much as in a general, or obscure way; much 
less that men destitute of the revelation of Him by 
the promise or gospel (Prov. xxix. 18; Isa. xxv. 
7; Isa. Lx.2,3)should be enabled thereby to attain sav- 
ing faith or repentance. 



312 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

Art. 3. The revelation of the gospel unto sinners, 
made in divers times and by sundry parts, with the 
addition of promises and precepts, for the obedience 
required therein, as to the nations and persons to 
whom it is grantel. is merely of the (Psi. cxlvii. 20; 
Acts xvii .7)sovereign will and good pleasure of Go 1, 
not being- annexed bv virtue of any promise to the due 
improvment of men's natural abilities, by virtue of 
common light received without it, which none ever 
did (Rom.r. 18, &c.) make or can so do; and therefore 
in all ages the preaching of the gospel has been grant- 
ed unto persons and nations, as to the extending or 
limiting of it in great variety, according to the counsel 
of the will of God. 

Art. 4. Although the gospel be the only outward 
means of revealing Christ and saving grace, and is as 
such, abundantly sufficient thereto; yet that men who 
are dead in trespasses may be born again, quickened 
or regenerated, there is moreover necessary an effect- 
ual, insuperable (Psa. ex. 3; 1 Cor. n. 14; Eph. I. 19, 
20) work of the Holy Spirit upon the whole soul, for 
the producing in them a new spiritual life, without 
which no other means will effect (John vi. 44; 2 Cor. 
iv. 4, 6) their conversion unto. 

CHAP. XXI. — OF CHRISTIAN LIBERTY AND LIBERTY 
OF CONSCIENCE. 

Art. I. The liberty which Christ hath purchased 
for believers under the gospel consists in their free- 
dom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of 
God, and rigor and (Gal. "in. 13) curse of the law y 
and in their being delivered from this present evil 
(Gal. I. 4) world, bondage to (Act xxvi. 18) Satan y 



THE LONDON ARTICLES OP FAITH. 313 

and dominion (Rom. viii. 3) of sin, from the (Rom. 
virr. 28) evil of affliction, the fear and sting (1 Cor. 
xv. 54,57) of death, the victory of the grave, and (2 
Thes. r 10) everlasting damnation; as also in their 
(Rom. viii. 15) free access to God, and their yielding 
obedience unto Him, not out of a slavish fear (Luke 
i. 25; 1 Joen xiv. 18), but a childlike love and will- 
ing mind. All which were common also to believers 
under the law (Gal. in. 9, 14) for the substance of 
them; but under the New Testament the liberty of 
Christians is further enlarged in their freedom from 
the yoke of the ceremonial law, to which the Jewish 
church was subjected, and in greater boldness of ac- 
cess to the throne of grace, and in the fuller com- 
munications of the (John VII. 38, 39; Heb. x. 19-21) 
free Spirit of God, than believers under the law did 
ordinarily partake of. 

Art. 2. God alone is (James iv. 12; Rom. xiv. 4) 
Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from the 
doctrines and commandments of men (Acts iv.19;v.29; 
1 Cor. vir. 23; Matt. xv. 9) which are in anything 
contrary to His word, or not contained in it. So that 
to believe such doctrines or obey such commands out 
of conscience (Col. n. 20, 22, 23) is to betray the true 
liberty of conscience; and the requiring of an (1 Cor. 
in. 5; 2 Cor. i. 24) implicit faith and absolute and 
blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience j 
and reason also. 

Art. 3. They who upon pretense of Christian lib- 
erty do practice any sin or cherish any sinful lust, 
as they do thereby pervert the main design of the 
grace of the gospel (Rom. vi. 1,2) to their own de- 
struction, so they wholly destroy (Gal. v. 13;2 Pet. n. 
18, 22) the end of Christian liberty; which is that be- 
ing delivered out of the hands of all our enemies, we 



314 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLCCK. 

might serve the Lord, without fear, in holiness and 
righteousness before Him all the days of our lives. 

CHAP. XXII. — OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP AND THE 
SABBATH DAY. 

Art. I. The light of nature shows that there is a 
God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all;is just, 
good, and doth good unto all; and is therefore to be 
feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and 
served, with all the heart, and all the soul (Jer. x. 
7; Mark xxi. 33) and with all the might. But the ac- 
ceptable way of worshipping the true God is (Duet. 
xn. 32) instituted by Himself, and so limited by His 
own revealed will, that He may not be worshipped ac- 
cording to the imaginations and devices of men of 
the suggestions of Satan, under any visible represen- 
tations, or (Ex. xx. 4-6) any other way not pre- 
scribed in the Holy Scriptures. 

Art. 2. Religious worship is to be given to God 
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and to Him (Matt, 
ix. 9, 10; John vi. 23; Matt, xxviii. 19) alone, not 
to angels, saints or any other (Rom. I. 25; Col. n. 18; 
(Rev. xix. 10) creatures; and since the fall,not with- 
out a (John xiv. 6) Mediator, nor the mediation of 
any other but (1 Tim. n. 5) Christ alone. 

Art. 3. Prayer with thankfulness, being one 
special part of natural worship, is by God required of 
(Psa xcv.l, 7) all men. But that it maj be accepted, 
it is to be made in the (John xiv. 13,14) name of the 
Son, by the help (Rom vm. 26) of the Spirit, accord- 
ing to (John v. 14) His will; with understanding, rev- 
erence, humility, fervency, faith, love and persever- 



THE LONDON ARTICLES OF FAITH. 315 

ance, and with others in a (1 Cor. xiv. 16, 17)known 
tongue. 

Art. 4. Prayer is to be made for things lawful, and 
for all sorts of men living (1 Tim. I. 2; 2 Sam. vii. 29) 
or that shall live hereafter; but not (2 Sam. xii. 21- 
23) for the dead, nor for those of whom it may be 
known that they have sinned(l Tim. iv. 13) the sin 
unto death. 

. 5. The (1 John v. 16)reading of the Scripture, 
preaching and (2 Tim, iv. 2; Luke, vin) hearing the 
word of God, teaching and admonishing one another 
in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing with 
grace in our hearts to (Col. in. 16; Eph. v. 19) the 
Lord, as also the administration (Matt. xxvm. 19, 
20) of baptism and (1 Cor. xi 26) the Lord's supper, 
are all parts of religious worship of God, to be per- 
formed in obedience to Him; with understanding, 
faith and reverence and godly fear; moreover, sol- 
emn humiliation (Estheriv.16; Joelir. 12), with fasting 
and thanksgiving upon (Ex. xv. 1 &c; Psa. cvn.) 
special occasions, ought to be used in an holy and re- 
ligious manner. 

Art. 6. Neither prayer, nor any other part of re- 
ligious worship, is now, under the gospel, tied unto 
or made more acceptable by any place in which it is 
(John iv 21; Malachi, i. 11; 1 Tim. in. 8) performed, or 
toward which it is directed; but God is to be worship- 
ped every where, in spirit and in truth; as in(Acts. v. 2) 
private families (Matt. vi. 11; Psa. iv. 17) daily, and 
(Matt. vi. 6) in secret, each one by himself, so more 
solemnly in the public assemblies, which are not 
carelessly, nor wilfully to be (Heb. x. 25; Acts. ri. 14) 
neglected or forsaken, when God by His word or 
providence calls thereunto. 



316 FOOTSTEfS OF THE FLOCK. 

Art. 7. As it is of the law of nature, that in gen- 
eral a proportion of time by God's appointment be 
set apart for the worship of God, so by His word in 
a positive, moral and perpetual commandment, bind 
ing all men, in all ages, He hath particularly ap- 
pointed one day in seven, for a (Exo. xx. 8) Sab- 
bath, to be kept holy un f o Him, which from the be- 
ginning of the world, to the resurrection of Christ, 
was the last day of the week; and from the resurrec- 
tion of Christ, was changed into the first day of the 
week (1 Cor. xvi.l, 2; Acts. xx. 7; Rev.i . 10), which 
is Galled the Lord's day and is to be continued to the 
end of the world as the Christian Sabbath;the observ- 
ance of the last day of the week being abolished. 

Art. 8. The Sabbath is then kept holy unto the 
Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their 
hearts, and ordering their common affairs afore- 
hand, do not only observe an holy(Isa. lviii. 12; Neh. 
vrri, 15, 22) rest all the day from their own works, 
words and thoughts about their worldly employments 
and recreations, but also are taken up the whole 
time in public and private exercises of His worship, 
and in the duties (Matt. xri. 1-13) of necessity and 
mercy. 

CHAP. XXIII. — OF LAWFUL OATHS AND VOWS. 

Art. 1, - A lawful oath is part of religious worship 
(Ex. xxxii. 7; Deut. x. 20, Jer. iv. 2) wherein the 
person swearing in truth, righteousnes and judgment, 
solemnly calleth God to witness what he sweareth (2 
Chron. vi. 22, 23) and to judge him accordingly to 
the truth or falseness thereof. 

Art. 2. The name of God only is that by which 



THE LONDON ARTICLES OF FAITH. 317 

men ought to swear, and therein it is to be used with 
all holy fear and reverence; therefore to swear vainly 
or rashly by that glorious and dreadful name, or to 
swear at all by any other thing, is sinful and to be 
(Matt. v. 34 37; James v. 12) abhorred; yet as in mat- 
ters of weight and moment, for confirmation of truth 
(Heb. vi. 16; 2 Cor. r. 23) and ending all strife, 
an oath is warranted by the word of God, so a law- 
ful oath being imposed (Neh. xiii. 25) by lawful au- 
thority in such matters, ought to be taken. 

Art.3. Whosoever taketh an oath warranted by the 
word of God, ought duly to consider the weightiness 
of so solemn an oath, and therein to avouch nothing 
but what he knoweth to be the truth ;f or that by rash, 
false or vain acts the (Levit. xn. 12; Jer. xxin. 10) 
Lord is provoked, and for them this land mourns. 

Art. 4. An oath is to be taken in the plain and 
(Psa. xxiv. 4) common sense of the word, without 
equivocation or mental reservation 

Art. 5. A vow, which is not to be made to any 
creature, but to God alone (Psa. lxxvi; 11. Gen. 
xxxin. 20 22) is to be made and performed with all re- 
ligious care and faithfulness; but popish monastical 
vows (1 Cor. vil 2, 9) of perpetual single life, 
professed (Eph.iv.'28) poverty and regular obedience, 
so far from being degrees of higher perfection, 
that they are superstitious (Matt. xrx. 11) and are 
sinful snares, in which no Christian may entangle 
himself. 

CHAP. XXIV.— OF THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

Art. 1. God, the supreme Lord and King of all the 
world, hath ordained civil (Rom. xn.1-4) magistrates 



318 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

to be under Him, over the people, for His own glory 
and the public good; and to this end hath armed them 
with the power of the sword for the defence and en- 
couragement of them that do good, and for the pun- 
ishment of evil doers. 

Art. 2. It is lawful for Christians to accept and 
execute the office of a magistrate when called there- 
unto; in the management whereof they ought espec- 
ially to maintain(2 Sam. xxii. 3; Psa. lxxxii.3, ^jus- 
tice and peace, according to the whole laws of each 
kingdom and commonwealth; so for that end they 
may lawfully now, under the New Testament (Luke 
xiii. 4), wage war upon just and necessary occasions. 

Art. 3. Civil magistrates being set up by God for 
the ends aforesaid, subjection in all lawful things 
commanded by them, ought to be yielded to by us in 
the Lord, not only for wrath (Rom. vn. 5, 7; 1 Peter 
ii. 17) but for conscience sake; and we ought to make 
supplications and prayers for kings and all that are 
in authority (1 Tim. n, 1, 2), that under them we may 
live a quiet and peacable life in all godliness and hon- 
esty. 

CHAP. XXV. — OF MARRIAGE. 

Art, 1. Marriage is to be between one man and 
one woman (Gen. n. 24; Mai. nr. 15; Matt. xix. 5, 6); 
neither is it lawful for any man to have more than 
one wife, nor for any woman to have more than one 
husband, at the same time. 

Art. 2. Marriage was ordained for the mutual 
help (Gen. ir. 18) of husband and wife (Gen. I. 28) for 
the increase of mankind with a legitimate issue, and 
for (1 Cor. vr, 3, 9) preventing of unclean ness. 



THE LONDON ARTICLES OF FAITH. 319 

Art, 3. It is lawful for (Heb. xni. 4; 1 Tim. iv. 2) 
all sorts of people to marry, who are able with judg- 
ment to give their consent; yet it is the duty of 
Christians (1 Cor. vn. 39) to marry in the Lord, and 
therefore such as profess the true religion should not 
marry with infidels (Neb., xiri. 25-27) or idolators, 
neither should such as are godly be unequally 
yoked by marriage with such as are wicked in their 
life, or maintain damnabale heresy. 

Art. 4. Mrrriage ought not to be within the de- 
gree of consanguinity (Lev. xviii.) or affinity, forbid- 
den in the word, nor can such incestuous marriage 
ever be made lawful by any law of man or consent of 
parties (Mark. vi. 18; 1 Cor. v. 1) so as these persons 
may live together as man and wife. 

CHAP. XXVI. — OF THE CHURCH. 

Art. 1. The Catholic or universal church, which 
with respect to the eternal work of the Spirit and 
truth of grace, may be called invisible, consists of 
the whole (Heb. xii. 23; Col. I. 18, Eph. I. 10, 22; 23; 
v. 23, 27, 32) number of the elect, that have been, are, 
or shall be gathered into one under Christ, the Head 
thereof, and is the spouse, the body, the fullness of 
Him that fllleth all in all. 

Art. 2. All persons throughout the world, pro- 
fessing the faith of the gospel and obedience unto 
God by Christ, according unto it, not destroying their 
own profession by any errors, everting the founda- 
tion, or unholiness of conversation (1 Cor. I. 2; Acts 
x, 26) are and maybe called visible saints (Rom. i, 
7; Eph. i. 20-22), and of such ought all particular 
congregations to be constituted. 



323 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

Art. 3. The purest churches under Heaven are 
subject (1 Cor. v; Rev. n. 3) to mixture and error, 
and some have so degenerated as to become (Rev.xvm 
2; 2 Thess. n. 11, 12) no churches of Christ, but syna- 
goges of Satan; nevertheless Christ hath had and 
ever shall have a (Matt, xvr. 18; Psa. lxxii. 17; en , 
28; Rev. xil. 17) kingdom in the world to the end 
thereof, of such as believe in Him and make profes- 
sion of His name. 

Art. 4. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the 
church, in whom by the appointment of the Father, 
(Col. i. 18; Matt- xxviii. 18-20; Eph. iv. 11, 12) all 
power for the calling, institution, order or govern- 
ment of the church is invested in a supreme and 
sovereign manner, neither can the Pope of Rome, in 
any sense be heard thereof, but is (2 Thess. n. 2-9) 
Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition, that 
exalteth himself in the church against Christ, and 
all that is called God, whom the Lord shall destroy 
with the brightness of His coming. 

Art. 5. Tn the execution of his power wherewith 
he is so instructed, the Lord Jesus calleth out of the 
world unto Himself, through the ministry of his word 
by His Spirit (John x. 16; xir. 32) those given unto 
Him by His Father, that they may walk before Him 
in all the (Matt, xxviii, 20) ways of obedience which 
He proscribeth to them in his word. Those thus 
called, He commanded to walk together in particular 
societies, or (Matt, (xv in. 15-20) churches for their 
mutual edification and the due performance of that 
public worship which He requireth of them in the 
world. 

Art. 6. The menbers of these churches are (Rom. 
i. 7; 1 Cor. i. 2) saints by calling, visibly manifesting 
and evidencing in and by their profession and walk- 



THE LONi>OX ARTICLES OF FATII. 321 

ing, there obedience un*o that call of Christ; and 
do willingly consent to walk together according to 
t he appointment of Christ.givingup themselves to the 
lord and one another by the will of God (Acts n. 41, 
24; v. 13, 14; 2 Cor. ix. 43) in professed subjection to 
■the ordinances of the gospel. 

Art, 7. To each of these churches thus gathered 
according to His mind, declared in his word, He hath 
given all that (Matt, xvni, 17, 18; 1 Cor. v. 4, 3, 13; 
2 Cor. n, 6 8) power and authority which is anyway 
needful for their carrying on that order in worship 
'and discipline, which He hath instructed for them to 
•observe, with commands and rules for the due and 
right exerting and executing of that power. 

Art. 8. A particular church, gathered and com- 
pletely organized according to the mind of Christ, 
-consists of officers and members, and the officers ap- 
pointed by Christ to be chosen and set apart by the 
ehurch, so called and gathered, for the particular ad- 
ministration of the ordinances and execution of the 
power or duty which he entrusts them with, or calls 
them to, to be continued to the end of the world, are 
(Acts xx. 17, 28; Phil. i. 1) Bishops, or Elders, and 
Deacons. 

Art. 9. The way appointed by Christ for the call- 
ing of any person fitted and gifted by the Holy Spiiit 
tinto the office of Bishop, or Elder, in the church, is 
that he be chosen thereunto by the common(Acts xi v. 
23; see the original) suffrage of the church itself and 
solemnly set apart by fasting and prayer, with im- 
position of hands of the (1 Tim. iv. 14) Eldership of 
the church, if there be any before constituted therein, 
and of a Deacon (Acts vi. 3, 5, 6), that he be chosen 
by the like suffrage, and set a part by prayer and the 
like imposition of hands. 

21 



322 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

Art. 10. The work of pistors being constantly trp 
attend the service of Christ in his churches, in the 
ministry of the word and prayer (Acts vr. 4; Hcb. 
xut. 17), with witching for their souls, as they that 
must give an account Do Him, it is incumbent on the 
church to whom they minister not only to give them 
due respect (1 Tim. v. 17, 18; Gal. vi. 6, 7) but also to 
communicate to them of all their good things, ac- 
cording to their ability, so as they may have a comforts 
ble supply, without being themselves (2 Timn. 4) en- 
tangled in secul ir affaiis an 1 may also be capable 
of exercising (1 Tim. in. 2) hospitality towards others 
and this is required by the (1 Cor. ix. 6 y 24) law of 
nature, and by the express order of our Lord Jesus r 
who hath ordained that they that preach the gosp-1 
should live of the gospel. 

Art. II. Although it bd incu nbant on the Bish )p i 
*>r pastors of the churches to be instant in preaching 
the word, by way of office, yet the work of preaching 
the word is not so particularly confined to them, but 
that others also (Acts xi. 19-21; 1 Peter iv. 10, 11) 
gifted and fitted by the Holy Spirit for it, and approv- 
ed and called by the church, may and ought to 
preform it. 

Art. 12. As all believers are bound to join them- 
selves to particular churches when and where they 
have opportunity so to do. so all that are admitted 
nnto the privilege of a church are also (1 Thess. iv. 
14; 2 Thess. in. 6, 14, 15) under the censures and 
government thereof according to the rule of Christ. 

Art. 13. No church members upon any offence 
taken by them, having peiformed their duty requir- 
ed of them toward the person they are offended at, 
ought to disturb church order, or absent themselves 
from the assembly of the church, or administration 



thk lom;on articles of faith, 323 

of any ordinance upon the account of such offense at 
any fellow members, but to wait upon Christ (Matt. 
xviir. ]5 17; Eplu i\\ in further proceeding of the 
church. 

Art. 14. As each church, and all the members of 
it, are bound to (Epb. vs. 18; Psa. exxir. 6) pray con- 
tinually for the good and prosperity of all the church- 
es of Christ in all places upon all occasions, and to 
further everyone within the bonds of their places 
and callings, in the exercise of their gifts and graces, 
so the churches when planted by the providence of God 
as they enjoy opportunity and advantage for it, ought 
to hold (Rom. xvi. 1, 2; John in. 8-10) communion 
among themselves for their peace, increase of love and 
mutual edification. 

Art. 15. Cause of difficulty or difference, either in 
point of doctrine or administration, wherein either 
the churches in general are concerned, or any one 
church in their peace, union and edification, or any 
member or members of any church are injured in or 
by any proceedings in censures not agreeable to truth 
and order, it is according to the mind of Christ that 
many churches holding communion together do by 
their messengers meet to consider (Acts xv, 2, 4, 9, 22, 
23, 25) and give their advice in or about the matter in 
difference, to be reported to all the churches concern 
cd; howbeit these messengers assembled are not in- 
trusted with any church power properly so called, or 
with any jurisdiction over the churches themselves to 
exesise any censure either over any churches or per- 
sons, or (2 Cor. I. 24; 1 John iv. 1) to impose their 
determination on the churches or officers. 



324 FO U'STEJPS WST THW b T LOCK. 

CHAP. XXVII— OPTHE COMMUNION OF SAINTS, 

Art.- I. All saints that are united to Jesus Christ, 
their head, by His Spirit and faith, although they are 
not made thereby, one person with Him, have (.Uohn 
I. 3; John p 16; Phil. ill. 10; Rom. vi. 5, 6) fellowship 
in His graces, sufferings, death, resurrection and glory, 
and being united to one another in love, they (Eph. 
iv. 15, 16: 1 Cor. xu. 7; in. 21-23) have communion 
in each others gifts and graces, and are obliged to 
the performance of such duties, public and private, 
in an orderly way (1 Thess. v. 11,14; Rom. l. 12; 1 
John in. 17, 18; Gal vi. 10) as to conduce to their 
mutual good, both in the inward and the outward 
man. 

Art. 2. Saints by profession are bound to maintain 
an holy fellowship and communion in the worship 
of God , and in performing such other spiritual services 
(Heb. x. 24, 25; in. 12, 13) as tend to their mutual ed- 
ification, as also relieving each other in (Acts xi. 29, 
30) outward things, according to their several 
abilities and necessities, which com- 
munion, according to the rule of the gospel, 
though especially to be exercised by them in 
the relations wherein they stand, whether in (Eph. 
vi. 4) families or (1 Cor. xu. 14, 37) churches, yet as 5 
God offereth opportunity, is to be extended to all the 
household of faith, even all those, who in everyplace 
call upon the name of the Lord Jesus, nevertheless 
their communion one with another, as saints, doth 
not take away or (Acts v. 4; Eph. iv. 28) infringe the 
tittle or property which each man hath in his goods* 
and p obsessions. 



2!a 



THE LONDON ARTICLES OF FAITH. S25 

CHAP, XXVIII.— OF BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUPPER. 

Art. I, Baptism and the Lord's supper are ordi- 
nances of positive and sovereign institution, appoint- 
ed by the Lord Jesus, the only Lawgiver, to be con- 
tinued in His church (Matt, xxviri. 19, 20; 1 Cor. xi- 
26) to the end of the world. 

Art. 2. These holy appointments are to be admin- 
istered by those only who are qualified and thereunto 
called accoi ding (Matt, xxvm, 19; 1 Cor. iv. 1) to 
the commission of Christ. 

CHAP, XXIX. — OF BAPTISM. 

Art. t. Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testa- 
ment, ordained by Jesus Christ, to be unto the party 
baptized a sign of his fellowship with Him in His 
death (Rom. vr. 2, 4, 5; Col. n. 12; Gal, ill, 27) and 
resurrection, of his being engrafted into Him. of 
(Mark I. 4; Acts xxvi. 16) remission of sins and of 
his (Rom. vi. 4) giving up himself unto God through 
Jesus Chist, to live and walk in newness of life. 

Art. 2. Those who do actually profess(Mark.xvi.l6; 
Acts viii, 37, 38) repentance toward God, faith in 
and obedience to our Lord Jesus, are the only prop- 
er subjects of this ordinance. 

Art. 3. The outward element to be used in this 
ordinance (Matt. xxvm. 19, 20; Acts viii. 38) is water, 
wherein the party is to be baptized in the name of the 
father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 

Art. 4. Immersion, or dipping of the person 
(Matt. in. 16; John in. 23) in water, is necessary t6 
the due administration of this ordinance. 



32b' FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK 

CHAP. XXX. — 'OF THE LORD'S bUPPKK. 

Art. I. The Supper of the Lord Je-us was instil ut« 
ed by Him the same night wherein He was betrayed, 
to be observed in His churches unto the end of tin* 
world, for the perpetual remembrance and showing 
forth the sacrifice of Himself in His death (1 Oor. xr. 
2-i-2G). confimation of the faith of believers in all the- 
benefits thereof, their spiritual nourishment, and 
growth in Him, their further engagement in and 
to all duties which they owe unto him(l Cor. x,16, 17 r 
21) and to be a bond and pledge of their communion 
with Him and with eich other. 

Art. 2. In this ordinance Christ is not offered up 
to His Father, nor any real sacrifice made at all for 
remission of sin of the quick or dead:but only a me- 
morial of that (Heb. ix. 25, 26, 23; one offering up of 
Himself, by Himself, upon the cross, once for all, and 
a spiritual oblation of all (1 Cor. xi. 24; Matt. xxvi. 
26, 27) possible praise unto God for the same. So 
that the popish sacrifice, the mass., as they call it, 
is most abominable, injurious to Christ's own and 
only sacrifice, the alone propitiation for all the sins of 
the elect. 

Art. 3. The Lord Jesus hath in this ordinance,, 
appointed His ministers to pray, and bless the 
elements of bread and wine, and thereby to set them 
apart from a common to an holy use, and to take and 
break the bread, to take the cup (1 Cor. xi 23-26, &c.) 
and, they communicating- also themselves, to give 
both to the communicants. 

Art. 4. The denial of the cup to the people, wor- 
shipping the elements, the lifting them up, or carying 
them about for adoration and reserving them for any 
pretended religious use(Matt. xkvi. 23-23; xv. 9; Exol- 



THti LONDON AKTICV5S OF FAITH, 327 

xx. 4, 5), are all contrary t) the a.itu-*e of this ordi- 
nance and to the institution of Christ. 

Art. S. The outward elements in this ordinance, 
duly set apart to the uses ordained by Christ, have 
such relation to Him crucified, as that truly, although 
in terms used figuratively, they. are sometimes called 
by the name of things they represent, to wit,the(l Cor. 
xi. 28) body and blood of Christ, albeit in substance 
and nature they still remain truly and only (1 Cor. 
&E. 26, 28) bread and wine as they were before. 

Art, 6. The doctrine which maintains a 
change of the substance of bread and 
wine unto the substance of Christ's body and 
blood, commonly called transubstantiate 'ii 
by consecration of a priest, or by any other way, 
is repugnant not to Scripture (Acts m.21; Luke xxiv. 
6, 39) alone, but even to common sense and reason, 
©verthroweth the (1 Cor. xu 24, 25) nature of the or- 
dinance, and hath been and is the cause of manifold 
superstitions, yea, gross idolatries. 

Art 7. Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of 
the visible elements in this ordinance, do then also 
inwardly, by faith really and indeed, yet not carnally 
and corporally but spiritually, receive and feed 
upon Chiist ciucifkd (1 Cor. X. 16; xi. 23-26) and all 
the benefits of His death, the body and blood of Christ 
being then not corporally or carnally, but spiritually, 
present to the faith of believers in that ordinance. 
as the elements themselves are to their outward 
senses. 

Art. 8. All ignorant and ungodly persons, as they 
are unfit to enjoy communion (2 Cor. vi, 14, 15) with 
Christ, so are they unworthy of the Lord's table, and 
cannot, without great sin against Him, while they 
remain such, partake of these holy mysteries (1 Cor. 



323' FooTsricps chtthk flock. 

xr. 29; Matt. vii. G) or be almitted bh-jreunt >; ye*-, 
whosoever shall receive them unworthily are guilty 
of the body and blood of ihe Lord, fating and drink 
ing damnation to themselves. 

CHAP. XXXI.— OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH, AND 
OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 

Art. 1. The bodies of men after death return to 
diist, (Gen. ni. 19; Acts xrt. 39) and see corruption*, 
but their souls, which neither die, nor sleep, having 
an immortal subsistence, immediately (Eccl. u. 7) re- 
turn to God who gave them; the souls of the righte- 
ous, then being made perfect in holiness, are received 
into paradise, where they are with Christ, and be- 
hold the face of God in light and (Luke xxin,43;2 Cor. 
v. 1, 6, 8; Phil. I. 23; Heb. xii. 23) glory w litin? for 
the full redemption of their bodies; and the souls of 

1 he wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in 
torment and utter darkness, reserved to (Jude r. 7;. 

2 Peter vi. 9; Luke xvi. 23, 24) the judgement of the 
great day; besides these two places for the souls sep- 
erated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledge!!* 
none. 

Art. 2. At the last day , s ; uch of the saints as are 
found alive shall not sleep, but be (1 Cor. xv. 51, 52;- 
1 Thess. iv. 17) changed and all the dead shall be 
raised up with the self-same bodies, and (Jobe xlx.. 
26, 27) none other, although with diffierent(l Cor. xv r 
42, 43) qualities, which shall be united to their souls 
forever 

A*t. 3. The bodies of thp unjust, shall by the pow- 
er of Christ, be raised to dishonor; the bodies of the 
just, by His Spirit, unto honor (Acts xxiv. 15; John 



THZ LONDON ARTICLES OF FAITP. 3*30 

v 28, 29; Fhil. in. 21) and be made conformable to 
His own glorious body. 

CT1AP. XXXII. — OF THE LAST JUDGMENT. 

Art. 1. God bath appointad a day wherein He 
will judge the world in righteousness by (Acts xvii. 
33; John v. 22, 27) Jesus Christ, t) whom ail power 
and judgment is given of the Father, in which day 
not only the (1 Cor. vi. 3; Jude vi) apostate angels 
shall be judged, but likewise all persons that have 
lived upon the earth shall appear before the tribunal 
of Christ (2 Cor. v. 10; Eccl. xn. 14; Matt. in. 36; 
Rev. xvi. 10, 12; Matt. xxv. 32, &c), to give an ac- 
count of their thoughts, words and deeds, and to re- 
ceive according to what they have done in the body, 
whether good or evi]. 

Art.2.The end of God's appointing this day is for the 
manifestation of the glory of His mercy in the eter- 
nal salvation of the elect (Rom. ix. 22, 23), and of 
His justice in the eternal damnation of the reprobates 
who are wicked and disobedient; for then shall the 
righteous go into everlasting life and receive that 
fulness of joy and glory with everlasting reward in 
the presence (Matt. xxv. 21, 34; 2 Tim. iv, 8) of the 
Lord, but the wicked who know not God, and obey 
not the gospel of Jesus Christ shall be cast into eter- 
nal torment, and (Matt. xxv. 46; Mark ix. 48; 2 Thess. 
7, 10) be punished with everlasting destruction from 
the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His 
power. 

Art. 3. As Christ would have us to be certainly 
persuaded that there shall be a day of judgment 
both (2 Cor. v, 10, 11) to deter all men from sin, and 
for the greater (2 Thess. I. 4. 6, 7) consolation of the 



330 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

godly in their adversity, so will He have that day un- 
known to men, that they may shake off all carnal 
security and be always watchful, because they know 
not the hour the (Mark xiri. 35-37; Luke xu. 35, 36) 
Lord will come, and may ever be prepared to say 
(Rev. xxu. 20), Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. 
Amen. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

THE HORSLEY-DOWN CONFESSION. 

The next articles of faith I am in possession of, 
adopted by the baptist in England, were written by 
John Gill and adopted by the church at Horsley- 
down, about A. D. 1720, and are as follows: 

"A declaration of the faith and practice of the 
church at Horsley-down, under the pastoral care of 
Mr. John QUI, &c. 

"Having been enabled, through the divine grace, 
to give ourselves to the Lord, and likewise one to 
another by the will of God;we count it a duty incum- 
bent upon us to make a declaration of our faith and 
practice, to the honor of Christ, and the glory of his 
name; knowing that as with the heart man believeth 
unto righteousness, so with the mouth confession is 
made unto salvation, we make this our declaration as 
follows:" 

Art. 1. We believe that the Scriptures of the Old 
and New Testament are the word of God, the only 
rule of faith and practice. 



THUS H0R3LEY-D0WN CONFESSION. 331 

Art. 2. We believe there is but one living and true 
Go,!; that there are three persons in the Godhead, the 
Father, the Son, and the H )ly Gho <t, who are equal 
i:i nature, power and glory; and that the Son and the 
Holy Ghost are as truly and properly God as the 
Father. 

Art. 3. We believe that, before the world began, 
G->d did elect a certain number of men, unto everlast- 
i \r silv itivi, whom h°, did predestinate to the adop- 
tion of Children by Jesus Christ, of his own free 
grace, and according to the good pleasure of his will, 
and that in pursuance of this gracious design, he did 
contrive and make a covenant of grace and peace 
with his Son Jesus Christ, on behalf of those persons, 
wherein a Savior was appointed, and that all spirit- 
ual blessings provided for them;as also that their per- 
sons, with all their grace and glory, were put into the 
hands of Christ, and made his care. 

Art. 4. We believe that God created the first man, 
Adam, after his own image, and in his likeness, an 
upright, holy and innocent creature, capable of serv- 
ing and glorifying him; but, he sinning, cdl his pos- 
terity sinned in him. and came short of the glory of 
God; the guilt of tvhose sin is imputed, and a corrupt 
nature derived, to all his offspring , descending from 
him by ordinary and natural generation; that they are 
by their first birth carnal and unclean, averse to all 
that is good, incapable of doing good and prone to 
every sin; and by nature children of wrath, and are 
under sentence of condemnation, and so are subject 
not only to a corporal death, and involved in a moral 
one, commonly called spiritual, but are liable to an 
eternal death, as, considered in the first Adam, fallen 
and sinners; from which there is no deliverance but 
by Christ the second Adam. 



332 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

Art. 5. We belive that the Lord Jesus Christ, be- 
ing set up from everlasting as Mediator of the new 
covenant, and he, having engaged to be the surety 
of his people, did, in the fulness of time, really as- 
sume human nature, and not before, neither in whole 
nor in part; his human soul being a creature, existed 
not from eternity, was created and formed in his body 
by him that forms the spirit of man within him, when 
that was conceived in the womb of the virgin, and so 
his human nature consists of a true body, and reason- 
able soul; both which, together, and at once, the Son of 
God assumed into union with his divine Person, when 
made of a woman, and not before-, in which nature he 
really suffered and died as their substitue, in their 
room and stead, whereby he made all satisfaction for 
their sins, which the law and justice of God could re- 
quire, as well as made way for all those blessings, 
which are needful for them for time and eternity. 

Art. 6. We believe that, that eternal redemption 
which Christ has obtained by yielding his blood, is 
special and particular, that is to say, designed for the 
elect of God, sheep of Christ, who only share the 
special and particular blessings of it. 

Art. 7. We believe that the justification of God's 
elect is only by the righteousness of Chist imputed to 
them, without the consideration of any works of 
righteousness done by them; and that the full 
and free pardon of all sins and transgressions, past, 
present, and to come, is only through the blood of 
Christ, according to the riches of his grace. 

Art. 8. We believe that the work of regeneration, 
conversion, sanctification, and faith, is not an act of 
man's free will and power, but of the mighty, effica- 
cious, and irresistable grace of God. 

Art. 9. We believe that all those who are chosen 



THE HoRsU.Y-DOWN CONFESSION. 333 

by Ihe Father, redeemed by the Son, and sanctified 
by the Spirit, shall certainly persevere, so that not 
one of them shall ever perish, but shall have everlast" 
ing life. 

Art. 10. We believe that there will be a resurec- 
tion of the dead, both of the just and unjust, and that 
Christ will come a second time to judge both the 
quick and the dead; when he will take vengeance on 
the wicked, and introduce his own people into his 
kingdom and glory, where they shall be forever with 
him. 

Art. 11. We believe that Baptism and the Lord's 
supper are ordinances of Christ, to be continued un- 
til his second coming, and that the former is absolute- 
ly requisite to the latter; that is to say, that those on- 
ly are to be admitted into the communion of the 
the church, and to participate of all the 
ordinances in it, who upon profession of their 
failh, have been baptized by immersion, in the name 
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 

Art. 12. We also believe that singing of psalms, 
hymns, and spiritul songs, vocally, is an ordinance 
of the gospel to be performed by believers; but as to 
the time, place and manner, everyone ought to be 
left to their liberty in using it. Now all, and each 
of these doctrines and ordinances, we look upon our- 
selves under greatest obligations to embrace. — John 
Gill, D. D. 



334 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

CHAPTER XXXIV 

THE RISE OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 

From HasselPs Church History L quote to follow- 
ing by permission of the author : 

William Cathcart, in his recently published 
"Baptist Encyclopaedia', says that Mr. John Gill 
"knew more of the Bible than any one else with 
whose writings he is accquainted; that he was a man 
of great humility, and one of the purest men that 
ever lived; that in his Body of Divinity, the grand old 
doctrines of grace, taken unadulterated from the di- 
vine fountain, presented in the phraseology and with 
the illustrations of an intellectual giant, and com- 
mended by a wealth of saictifled Bibical learnnig,only 
once in several ages permitted to mortals, sweep all 
opposition before them, and leaves no place for the 
blighted harvests, the seed of which was planted by 
James Arminius, in modern times. In this work, 
eternal and personal election to a holy life, particu- 
lar redemption from all guilt, resistless grace in re- 
generation, final persevearance from sin and the 
wicked one, till the believer enters paradise, and the 
other doctrines of the Christian system, are expound- 
ed and defined by one of the greatest teachers ever 
called to the work of instruction by the Spirit of 
Jehovah." 

He adds that Mr. Gill's "commentary is the most 
valuable exposition of the Old and New Testament 
ever published." 

"Well, after the bones of this wondefully gifted 
servant of God had been laid safely in the grave (in 
1771) Mr. Andrew Fuller began to ponder upon the 
expediency of making a change in Baptist tactics, 
and offering salvation to all sinners without distinc- 



THE RISE OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 385 

tion. After four years rumination, his views on this 
subject became entirely changed, and he wrote an 
essay entitled, 'The Gospel Worthy of all Accepta- 
tion,' which he did not venture to publish, howev- 
er, until 1782, seven years after it had been written. 
This publication involved him in a bitter controversy 
of twenty years, with some of his baptist brethren, 
including Mr. Abram Booth, a London baptist minis- 
ter, and the learned and able author of that admir- 
able work k The Reign of Grace,' but it is stated that, 
the ability and force of Mr. Fuller's pamphlet ulti- 
mately prevailed, and his views were daopted by the 
majority of those professing the baptist name. 

"These views, Mr. Fullers says, were different 
from those held by the baptist during the most of the 
eighteenth century, but were like those entertained 
by Bunyan and other old baptist writers in the six- 
teenth and seventeenth centuries. But it should be 
remembered that Bunyan, though we cannot doubt a 
child of God, yet he did not have perfect light on all 
subjects, was an open communionist, and at times 
did not seem very well establisned in doctrine; and so 
far as we know, all calling themselves baptists in the 
sixteenth and early part of the seventeenth century 
were Arminians, whose example is a poor precedent 
for the Bible baptists. The actual result of Mr. Ful- 
ler's methods has been not to effectuate the eternal 
salvation of a single sinner (for Christ is the only 
complete Savior of His people,) but to increase large- 
ly the number of those professing, while unhappily 
n )fc possessing true religion. In 1784, Mr. Andrew 
Fuller read a pamphlet on the importance of general 
union in prayer for the revival of true religion, writ- 
ten by Jonathan Edwards, President of the College 
of New Jersey; and in the same year read a poem by 
John Scott on the cruelties of the English in the East 



336 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

Indies. In this manner he was led to recommend 
prayer meetings the first Monday evening of every 
month, for the extension of the gospel, and urged the 
formation of a moneied religious society for sending 
a mission to India. The first Baptist Missionary So- 
ciety was thus formed at Kittering, England, Oct. 2, 
1792, and the first collection for its treasury amount- 
ed to £13.25, and 6d, was taken up. Mr. Fuller was 
chosen and remained its secretary till his death;trav- 
eling almost continually through the British Isles, 
and pleading for the mission cause, and charging the 
society nothing for his services. He makes the fol- 
lowing remarkable statement in writing : 'Our un- 
dertaking to India really appeared to me, on its com- 
mencement, to be somewhat like a few men who were 
deliberating about the the importance of penetrating 
into a deep mine which had never before been explor- 
ed. We had no one to guide us: and while we were 
thus deliberating, Cary, as it were, said: "Weill will go 
down if you will hold the rope." But before he went, 
he, as it seemed to me, took an oath from each of us 
at the mouth of the pit to this effect, that while we 
lived we should never let go the rope. You under- 
stand me. There was great responsibility attached 
to us who began the business'." 

"All this looks fa?* more like faith in men and 
money, than faith in God. Instead of approving the 
Scriptures utterly condemn all confidence in the 
flesh. Can it be possible that such fleshly confidence 
as that to which Mr. Fuller makes such full and can- 
did confession was the source of modern Baptists and 
Protestant missions. If this language has any mean- 
ing, it seems so. Again, Mr. Fuller makes the aston- 
ishing statement that his own 'church was in a fam- 
ished ccndition of spiritual life, and found no salva- 
vation, except in becoming identified with mission 



THE RISE OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 337 

work.' Al is that the mission idol should be substitut- 
ed for Christ ! 

•'This rem irk of An Irew Fuller is parallelled by a 
remark of the Methodist''Bishop,"GeorgeF. Pierce, of 
Georgia, substantially as follows: 'The question is 
not so much how can the heathen be saved, unless we 
send them the gospel, but how can we ourselves be 
saved unless we send them the gospel?' If the es- 
sence of this is not idolatry, I confess I do not under- 
stand the meaning of the term. How different is this 
declaration from the preaching of the Apostle Peter 
in Acts iv. 10-12. 

•'The apostles were commanded by Christ to 'go 
into all the world and preach the gospel to every 
creature.' Scripture prophecy makes it certain 
that, in God's own best time, the apostles by their 
writings, will go into all the world, and a heavenly 
kingdom will take the place of all earthly kingdoms 
(Matt. xxiv. 14; Rev, xi. 15). The apostles must 
have understood Christ's commandment to them, bet- 
ter than subsequent uninspired men have understood 
it:but there is no clear Bible evidence,and as admitted 
by all scholars, no other reliable evidence that the apos- 
tles personally preached the gospel outside of the Ro- 
man Empire. By the dissemination of the Greek lan- 
guage and civilization, and by the multiplication of 
the facilities for travel under the mighty dominion »>f 
Rome, the providence of God had gradually prepared 
the way for apostolic preaching of the gospel, at the 
same time that the Spirit of God had prepared a peo- 
ple to hear and be benefited by such preaching. No 
doubt the genuine future evangelization of the world 
will take place in a similar way. Not by such nineteenth 
century machinery as unscriptural alliances, upon a 
money basis, of the world and the nominal"Church," 
but by the providential assemblage of the people 



3-')8" FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

from all nations at Jerusalem, to hear the preaching 
of the apostles, by persecutions, by the visions of 
the day and the night, by special communication s of 
the Holy Spirit forbidding the apostles to go in cer- 
tain directions and commanding them to go in 
others, and by the Holy Spirit preceeding and accom- 
panying the apostles, the gospel was preached 
throughout the Roman Empire. And during the ear- 
ly succeeding centuries, by social and commercial in- 
tercourse, by persecution, by conquest, by captivity, 
by slavery, by enlistment in the Roman armies, the 
inscrutable wisdom of God, which is able to overrule^ 
evil for good and make the wrath of man praise Him, 
diffused the light of saving truth, to some extent 
among the barbarian nations dwelling on the borders 
of the Roman Empire. And during the dark ages, 
the Cathari, the Patarenes, the Paulicians, the 
Albigenses. and the Waldenses, being persecuted in 
one country, fled to another, as commanded by 
Christ, and went in every direction preaching the 
word (Watt. x. 23, Acts viii, 1-4). And in modern 
times the Baptist have suffered the most religious per- 
secution, and have been driven from country to coun- 
try, preaching the gospel. 

"The Roman Catholic popes, in order to aggra- 
idze themselves, sent missionaries from time to time 
to convert various tribes to their own heathenish su- 
perstitions : trustworthy historians affirm that many 
of those heathen tribes were far more moral than the 
Catholics themselves. 

"The most zelous and 'successful 7 foreign mis- 
sionaries of the pope have been the monastic orders 
of Franciscans, Dominicians and Jesuits. The 
first two orders originated in the thir- 
teenth, and the last in the sixteenth 
century. Vowing perputual poverty, chas- 



THE RISti OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 339 

tit y and obedience (to the General of the order, or to 
the pope), these powerful organizations, equaling 
the ancient proselyting Pharisees, and utterly eclips- 
ing all subsequent protestant societies in zeal and 
apparent sincerity, have iu the last six centuries 
victimized hundreds of millions of the human race, 
exterminating, by means of the Tnquistion, millions 
of so-called heretics at home, and Catholicizing, by 
means of compromises with paganism, countless mul- 
titudes of poor deluded heathens in foreign lands. 
Of these monastic orders, the Jesuitical has been the 
most zealous and successful. Founded in 1534 to 
oJieck and over-balance the Catholic losses by Pro- 
testantism, suppressed, because of their intolerable 
abominations, in 1773, by Pope Clement XIV, 
who died by poison in 1771, and restored by Pope 
Pius VII.,inl814 this nefarious order,the most power- 
ful and the most missionary institution that ever ex- 
isted on earth, has thoroughly underminded all the 
foundations of human morality, and, in a word, made 
Jesuitism equivalent to diabolism. 

ft The Protestant reformers, Luther and Calvin, 
never thought of sending missionaries to the heath- 
ens; Luther denouncing with great emphasis the 
worldly methods of prosecuting missions, and Cal- 
vin, in his comment on the final commandment of 
Christ to His Apostles (Matt, xxviii. 19) saying noth- 
ing whatever of missions to the heathens." 



340 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK, 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

THE PHILADELPHIA ASSOCIATION. 

This association was formed in 1707. L began 
with five churches, but in process of time became a 
numerous body, and for many years extended from 
Ketocton in Virginia to North town in New York, 
a distance of 400 miles. From it, originated the Ke- 
tocton, Baltimore and Delaware associations on the 
south, and on the north, those of New York, Warwick 
and New Jersey. 

It being the odest institution of the kind in 
America, it was looked up to as a pattern of imitation 
by those which succeeded, and by it were given rules- 
and even doctrines, to many and indeed most of the 
first associations in the southern and western states. 
The Philadelphia Association adopted the London 
confession of faith in 1742, with the addition of two 
other articles, viz: Art. 23, Of singing of Psalms (in 
public worship);Art. 31, Of laying on of hands (on all 
baptized believers). In 1761, the Philadelphia As- 
sociation passed these two resolutions. 

"First. The Holy Scriptures we profess to be a 
full, sufficient and only rule of faith and obedience,, 
and we caution all to be aware of every impulse, rev- 
elation, or any other imagination whatever, incon- 
sistent with or contradictory to the Holy Scripture,, 
under any pretense of being guided by the Spirit. 
The work of the Holy Spirit, illuminates the under- 
standing to know the mind of God contained in the 
Scriptures, and may properly be called a guide. 

Second. God worketh all things after the coun- 
sel of His own will. Whatsoever cometh to pass, is 
either by His agency or permission, and though Ho 

2?a 



THE PHILADELPHIA ASSOCIATION. S41 

permits sin to be, He is not the author of it." 
The circular Letter of 1774, up > i the second arti- 
cle, says; "It is an important article, a foundation, a 
corner stone in the Christian faith. Remove this and 
the whole superstructure will fall. Material then is 
it, that we clearly conceive and firmly believe it and 
without wavering hold the same agreeable to sound 
words, wherein it is held forth in divine Revela- 
tion. ■ First. That there is o.niy one living and true 
God; the Supreme and Eternal Jehovah is manifest, 
(1) from the reason of things. Since there cannot be 
an effect without a cause, there must be a first cause, 
self existent, and indipendent. \ (2) From the works of 
creation, all marvelous and astonishing from least to 
the greatest. (3)From those of Providence, in sustaining 
and well ordering the whole universe, through all the 
succeeding periods of time. And especially, (4) 
from the consciousness of a Supreme Being im- 
pressed on every rational soul. Above all, (5) from 
the Holy Scripture (Deut. vr. 4; xxirr. 39; 
iv. do; Psa. lxxxvi 10; Isa. xlv. v.) 
Secondly. The perfections of God may be easily de- 
duced from the same sources, especially His wisdom, 
power and infinite goodness. And though His 
mercy, justice, truth and holiness be not so clearly 
seen from the works of creation and providence, yet 
there is a strong consciousness of these, as well 
of His omniscience omnipresence, &c, while they are 
also abundantly manifested by His word and Spirit. 
Thirdly, Now in this divine and infinite Being 
there are three subsistences, the Father, the Son, and 
the Holy Ghost .The father neither begotten nor pro- 
ceeding; the Son or Word, eternally begotten of the 
Father, John i. 14, 18; in. 16; 1 John iv, 9, and the 
Holy Ghost proceeding from the Father and the Son, 
John v. 26, constituting, in the undivided essence of 



342 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

the Godhead, a Trinity of persons, each of them pos- 
sessed of all divine perpeetions, and every way co- 
equal, and these three are one, the one God, 1 John 
v. 7. That there are three appears all through 
ihe sacred writings, in 1 Peter i. 2. in whose name 
baptism is administered, Matt, jjxvni. 19, and to 
whom divine worship and adoration are addressed, 
2 Cor. xiii. 14; and that these three are, or that there 
is one, and bat one, God, is no less clear as above." 

In the circnlar letter of 1775, we have the follow- 
ing: "When all the human race, by the sin of the first 
man were involved in guilt, Rom. v. 12, and fallen 
under condemnation, and all become the children of 
wrath, it would manifestly be doing them no injus- 
tice if they were, every individual, left in that state, 
and eternally, punished for their sins;this would have 
been their proper desert, their just reward. But God 
out of his mercy, free grace and love, without any 
moving cause in the parties chosen, hath predestinat- 
e i some unto life, through a Mediator, Eph. r. 4; 
Rom xr. 5, 6 (without any wrong done to others), to- 
gether with all the means subservient to this end, viz, 
their redemption by the blood of Christ, and renova- 
tion by the Spirit of holiness, to the praise of His 
glorious grace; the other left to act in sin, to their 
final destruction to the glory of divine justice Rom. 
ix. 22,23." 

In the letter of 1780, the following is found: 
■ 'Man became separate from God, an enemy unto Him y 
to His glory an 1 government, from the first sin, even 
until now; obnoxious to a curse of a just law violated 
and under the wrath of God due to transgressors; al- 
so, wor'ullv po'lu r ,ei throughout soul and body. 
'We are all as an unclean thing,' Isa. xliv. 6. Man 
by his departure from Gol, is become idolatrous,- 
turned from the only true God, unto self, which is- 



THE PHILADELPHIA ASSOCIATION. 343 

the grand idol of the world ever since Adam's revolt. 
Self was the very alluring bait, wrapped up in the 
the first temptation, Ye shall be as God's. Now it 
cannot be otherwise, but that He who will not give His 
glory to another, should always abhor 
and detest any one, and every one, that sets 
up another god in the room of the true God, 
and lives to him, as m in doth to self. Again 
what further aggravates fell -3 evil of the first sin of 
man is the capacity which Adam stood in; viz., as the 
public head and representative of all his posterity, that 
in him and with him all have sinned, and fell from 
happiness in his first transgression, all have sinned, 
Rom. v. 12; wnich is evident not only by divine tes- 
timony, but is also universally manifested by the 
aversion to good, the ignorance, stupidity, selfishness 
and propensity to evil, apparent in every one by na- 
ture, Eph, ii. 3. May we all therefore, brethren, not 
only assent to the truth of the historical narrative of 
these things, but also know the absolute necessity of 
a real, abiding sense of our case, thus ruined, guilty 
and depraved. In order, first, to suppress all pride 
and high conceit of ourselves, our supposed excel- 
lency and goodness; second, freely to acknowledge 
whatever favors mankind receives, they are every way 
gratuitous, and wholly undeserved; third, for our hu 
nidation before God, confession of our sins, and deep 
distress of soul; fourth, to raise in our minds a be- 
coming admiration of God's patience and forbearance 
with a sinful world, in that, vindictive justice is not 
immediately executed on transgressors; fifth, to learn 
the true and proper cause of His forbearance, viz., 
the interposition of the Mediator, Jesus Christ, be- 
tween the execution of the penalty, man's desert; 
sixth, to give us enlarged views of rich mercy and 
grace with God. in constituting a way whereby to 



344 FOOTSTEPS OF THB FLOCK. 

restore creatures so un worth v from present ruin, anrf 
future miserv, even by His own belovod Son; seventh, 
to teach us the necessity we are under of a renova- 
tion. Again, an abiding sense of our case is neces- 
sary, in or ler to make us all anxiously inquisitive 
about our acquaintance with, and aa interest in r 
Christ the Mediator, and to excite all believers in 
Him, to continue thanksgiving and praise, that they 
should not henceforth live to themselves, but unto 
Him who died for them and rose again. God who is 
wise in counsel and excellent in working, suffered or 
permitted man to fall, and thence took occasion to 
bring the greatest good, out of the worst of evils, or 
overruled the fall of man, to the more abundant dis- 
play of His divine perfections, to the everlasting dis- 
appointment and confusion of His enemies, the se- 
curity of His elect and the endless praise of His glori- 
ous name." 

In the circular letter of 1789, are the following- 
remarks: "The repentance which is not unto life and 
salvation, or mere legal repentance, originates in 
self-love, terminates in the fear of future punishment, 
or penal evil; and is but a transient view of that legal 
condemnation which is the consequence of sin, but 
never leads the soul to the gospel refuge. Hence, if 
any reformation is effected, it finally terminates in 
apostacy. agreeable to the apostle's assertion, 2 Peter 
ie. 22. 3 it re J^ncance which is unto life and salvation, 
has God for its author. and cannot arise from the power 
of free-will, of the dictates of a natural conscience, 
but from the gra :e of God as the efficient, and the 
operation of the divine Spirit as the impulsive, 
cause, without which no means, as judgments, mer- 
cies, or the most powerful ministry, can effect it. 
This godly sorrow and repentance for sin, is not ex- 
cited merely from a view of the demerits of sin, of 



THE PHILADELPHIA ASSOCIATION. 345 

its evil consequences ro the soul, or a fear of hell and 
damnation, but on account of the evil that is in sin, 
its contrariety to a Holy Gorj. The sinner thus con- 
victed mourns that he has offended God, wounded 
Christ and grieved the Holy Spirit. This repentance 
furth M- produces an ingenuous confession or sin, and 
forsaking it, in bringing forth fruits meet for repen- 
tance in life and conversion. This repentance is 
wrought in the hearts of God's people in order to 
their sanctification, that they may be qualified to 
enjoy the heavenly inheritance." 

In 1790, the Philadelphia Association declared: 
"We apprehend danger from the new system 
of divinity, lest by these fine spun theories and the 
consequences which are drawn from them by some, 
the great doctrine of the imputation of Adam's sin, 
Christ's proper attonement,imputed righteousness &c, 
should be totally set aside, or at least, the glory of 
them sullied. We therefore advise that great care 
should be taken to guard against innovations, not 
calculated to edify the body of Christ." The circu- 
lar letter of the same year is strongly worded with 
an argument against the spreading leprosy of the doc- 
trin of universal salvation. 

The circular letter of 1791: "We exclude; in the 
consideration of this subject, all false professors of 
religion of every description, whatever may be their 
attainments, as in the grace of knowledge, talent or 
tongues, and power of working miracles, who never- 
theless are destitute of the renewing grace of God. 
Hence, those who have made a fair show in religion 
for a time, as the foolish virgin, Matt. xxv. The 
branches which were in the true vine, either by 
profession only, or in relation to Abraham, John xv. 
Those who in a sense may have tasted of the good 



346 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

word of God, as the stony-grounded hearers. Matt. 
xiii., or as Herod, who heard John gladly, Matt, vi. 
20. Those who may have embraced the doctrines of 
the gospel, frequently styled "the Faith," in the 
New Testament, Acts xxiv. 24; 1 Tim. I. 21; 2 Tim. 
in. 8, as Hymenerus and Alexander, who in time made 
shipwreck thereof, 1 Tim. I. 20. Those who have 
beeu enlighted,and had the gift of prophecy, as Baal- 
am, 1 Cor. xiii. 2, or who had the gift of tongues, 
power to work miracles, and as such tasted of the 
powers of the world to come, or of the gospel dispen- 
sation, as Judas, Heb. vi. 5 — all such we exclude; of 
all such there is no sufficient evidence that they were 
renewed by the grace of God, but of many of them 
the fullest testimony that they were not. We cannot 
therefore plead their perserverance in grace which they 
never had, nor can such instances of defection, with 
any propriety, be produced as objections to the doc- 
trine of final perserverance of the saints. We assert 
that those only will persevere in the way of eternal 
life and attain unto it, in whom the regenerating 
grace of God has or will take place. This fact is 
proved by the everlasting love of God to His people, 
by the covenant of grace, ordered in all things and 
sure, redemption by Christ Jesus, the charge He has 
taken of His people, the promises of the gospel, the 
perfections of God, His immutability, justice, power 
wisdom, faithfulness and truth, all engaged to bring 
the heirs of grace, through perseverance therein to 
glory. The doctrine of the perseverance of the 
saints in grace, is not the doctrine of their persever- 
ance in wickedness; it is not a licentious doctrine. 
How can they, who are dead to sin, live any longer 
therein, Rom. vi. 1, 2." 

The circular letter of 1795, on the subject of the 
'gospel and the extent of the grace thereof," says: 



THE PHILADELPHIA ASSOCIATION. 347 

"Observe the difference between the law and the gos 
pel; the law denounces wrath, the gospel publishes 
peace; the law convinces of guilt, the gospel brings 
acquittance; the law requires satisfaction to the last 
mite, the gospel discovers that satisfaction has 
been made in f ullthe law knows nothing of mercy, the 
gospel knows nothing else; in the law, righteousness, 
justice and truth shine gloriously, in the gospel, love, 
grace, mercy, pity, condescension, and compassion do 
also shine, and with much more resplendent glory. 
In the gospel we find free grace, free mercy, free 
pardon; faith and repentance are freely given, and 
and with them a new heart; a new nature, new life, 
all is new, all is free. The gospel as the word signi- 
fies, is good message, good news, glad tidings, Luke 
11. 10; iv. 18, 19; Isa. lx. 1-3. The gospel brings glad 
tidings of good things, good things done for us, in 
that atonement is made for us, our debts are paid, 
a righteousness wrought out, pardon and acceptance 
procured; good things wrought in us, such as regen- 
eration, meetness for Heaven, faith, hope, and every 
other grace, all the good things of providence and 
grace that are necessary for our present use, during 
our passage through life, and finally, the good things 
of Heaven itself, even all the glory and happiness of 
the bea'ific state. The gospel in fine, contains a 
discovery of all good things for time and eternity 
in the deliverence from sin and every evil, and the 
full enjoyment of every bliss and happiness beyond 
what the tongue of men or angels can express, or the 
powers of the human mind conceive. From what we 
have said we shall mention, by way of inference, 
only two useful observations. First, that according 
to the gospel, the atonement of Christ did not extend 
to every individual of the human race; and 
secondly, that the gospel contains no con- 



348 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

ditional offers of salvation, from first to l.i*t. 
We mention these, because som^ in our days seem 
to favor such notions, an i some others that tend 
to mar and go a great way toward sullying the 
glory of the gospel. In regard to the first, if atone- 
ment was made for all, id was God's intention that it 
should; that intention must have full effect; the 
effect must be that all must and will be saved. If 
Christ answered the demands of the law and justice 
for all, and paid the price in full, then there must be 
guiltless persons in hell for want of being made meet 
for Heaven. Christ has done His part, but the 
Spirit declines doing His. Why God should appoint 
satisfaction to be made for all, and afterward not 
renew and sanctify all, and bring them to heaven, 
must be very strange, and utterly inconsistent with 
the glory and perfections of Him, who does noth- 
ing in vain, who never does a part without doing the 
whole, who always finishes what He begins. It is 
manifest from the Holy Scripture that Christ made 
atonement for his people, Isa. lui. 8; Luke I. 68; 
His sheep, John x. 15, 26, 29; xvir. 9; those that were 
given Him, Heb. n. 13; who were redeemed from 
among others, Rev. v. 9. As to the second, to make 
salvation conditional would be to rob God of His 
sovereignty, and make His glory depend on man, 
while at the same time it would give room for boast- 
ing. It also would convert the gospel of the grace of 
God into a new law. Is the law of works to be preferred 
to the covenant of grace. If it be of grace, says the 
apostle, then is it no more of works, otherwise grace 
is no more grace. What! make our happiness depend 
on man ? If we will do part, Go 1 will do the rest! 
Alas ! what can man do in the business of salvation 
from first to last, to merit or promote it ? Is he al- 
together dependent on God ? Yea, verily, that at every 



THE PHILADELPHIA ASSOCIATION. 349 

step, in the beginning an i progress of the glorious 
work he may cry, grace, grace, and whosoever glori- 
eth, let him glory in the Lord. But these men make 
a destinction between natural and moral ability. 
What is the use of this distinction, but to evade, de- 
ceive, and confuse ? What can natural ability avail 
towards producing a supernatural effect ? The effect 
can never exceed its cause, any more than a stream 
can rise higher than its fountain. Now the exer- 
cise of any and every supernatural grace, is supernat- 
ural, is purely of God, for what is born of the flesh 
is flesh. And besides, if man's natural ability was 
competent to repent, believe accept, obey ,&c, what good 
could it do him, since he is never to exert it, unless God 
induces or influences him thereto, and without which 
influence, all offers and moral suasion will prove in- 
effectual. If we speak of repentance, for instance, is 
not Christ exalted as a Prince and a Savior to give re- 
pentance unto Israel and remission of sins ? If we 
speak of faith, what faith ? Natural faith ? what bet- 
ter can this be, than the faith of devils, who believe 
and tremble ? But if we speak of supernatural and 
evangelical faith, the Scripture is express. By way 
of distinction from the other, it is called the faith of 
the operation of God, the faith of God's elect, like 
precious faith with us, that which purifies the heart 
and worketh by love. And in regard to 
those who receive Him, it is said, to them gave He 
power, yea, verily, all the power, influence, and 
everything in the business of our salvation is entire- 
ly of God alone, and not of us, who are but perfect 
weakness." 

In the circular letter of 1806, written by Elder 
William Rogers (the nineteenth century spirit of re- 
ligious as well as material improvement, 
having begun to prevail), a zealous plea 



350 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

is made for the modern moneied mission- 
ary societies, which is extolled far above the 
Protestant Reformation, a parting rebuke is ad- 
ministered to those "professing Christians", who, in 
"their indifference or sloth or sleep" are doing nothing 
far the salvation of the heathen. Yet the same letter 
makes the following candid admission: (i It is, how- 
ever, a very remarkable circumstance that in modern 
missions, papal Rome has led the way. When the 
Roman Pontiffs (says Mosheim) saw their ambition 
checked by the progress of the Reformation, which 
d eprived them of a great part of their spiritual do- 
minion in Europe, they turned their lordly views to- 
wards, the other parts of the globe. The society, which 
in the year 1540 took the denomination of Jesuits, 
or the company of Jesus, were by the pope chiefly 
employed, at first in India, Japan, and China, after 
which they spared no pains in propagating their er- 
roneous sentiments in the West Indies and on the 
continent of America. In the year 1556, Protes- 
tants began to feel for the nations involved in paga- 
nism. 

"Fourteen missionaries were sent from Geneva to 
America. The Swedes also exerted their zeal for the 
conversion of the superstitions Laplanders, and both 
the English and the Dutch, carried with them into 
their increasing settlements, the doctrines of the Re- 
formation. Early in the last century the Moravains 
began to organize and exert themselves in the missi- 
ary cause. Their spheres of action have gradually in- 
creased; besides, their missions in six of the West In- 
dia Islands, they have settlements in Greenland, Upper 
Canada and South America;there missionaries are em- 
ployed also at the Cape of Good Hope, on the coast 
of Labrador, and in the Russian part of Asia. The 
zeal, the afflictions and the success of the United 



THE KEHUKEE ASSOCIATION. 351 

Brethren have been great. Patrionized by Christians 
in Scotland and in America, Elliott Brainard, Edward 
and others laboured among the aborigines of our 
country: but it ivas not till about the year of 1790, 
that the great missionary spirit which noiu exists be- 
gan to diffuse itself . The holy flame spread, until in 
the year 1792 the Baptist Missionary society was 
formed."— See HasselPs Church History. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

THE KEHUKEE ASSOCIATION, 

"Confessions of faith have not been held by the 
Baptists as absolutely necessary. Their confessions of 
faith is the Bible. Their articles or creed is that 
blessed book. They need nothing better, and nothing 
else for their guide. But for the better understand- 
ing of their views by others, amid the great variety 
of professed Christian denominations and creeds ex- 
tant in the world, they have found it convenient, 
from time to time, since the apostolic age to draw up 
a few brief particulars, in the shape of articles of 
faith; that their faith and practice might be readily 
known to all men. Whatever censure may attach 
to them on account of their faith, they are willing to 
meet it; they are not ashamed of their principles, 
neither do they wish to appear under any disguise or 
false robes. The doctrine which they believe, is the 
doctrine which they preach and publicly proclaim be- 
fore the world. It is the doctrine of salvation by 



352 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

grace and not by works. They boldly teach it every- 
where. 1st, because it is the truth; 2nd, because 
they love it; 3rd, because they wish others to receive 
it in the love of it. 4th, because it feeds, comforts, 
strengthens and encourages exercised souls; 5th. Be- 
cause it honors God, and nothing else does." — Has- 
sel's Church History. 

I now give the articles of faith of the next oldest 
association in the United States, the Kehukee: 

Art. 1- We believe in the being of God, as al- 
mighty, eternal, unchangeable, of infinite wisdom, 
power, justice, mercy and truth; and that this God 
has revealed Himself, in His word, under the charac- 
ters of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. 

Art. 2. We believe that Almighty God has made 
known His mind and will to the children of men in 
His word; which word we believe to be of divine au- 
thority and contains all things necessary to be known 
for the salvation of men and women. The same is 
comprehended or contained in the Old and New Tes- 
taments as are commenly received. 

Art. 3. We believe that God, before the founda- 
tion of the world, for a purpose of His own glory, did 
elect a certain number of men and angels to eternal 
life; and that this election is particular, eternal and 
unconditional on the part of the creature. 

Art. 4. We belive that, when God made man at 
first, he was perfect, holy and upright, able to keep 
the law, but liable to fall, and that he stood as a fed- 
eral head, or representative, of all the natural off- 
spring, and that they were to be partakers of the ben- 
fits of his obedience, or exposed to the misery which 
sprang from his disobedience. 

Art 5. We believe that Adam fell from this state 



THE KEHUKEK ASSOCIATION. 



353 



'of rectitude, and that he involved himself and all his 
natural offspring in the state of death; and for thai, 
original transgression, we all are both filthy and guil- 
ty in the sight of an holy God, 

Art, 6. We also believe that it is utterly outof the 
power of men, as fallen creatures, to keep the law of 
God perfectly and repent of their sins truly, or be- 
lieve in Christ, except they be drawn by the Holy 
Spirit. 

Art. 7. We belive that in God's own appointed 
lime and way (by means which he has ordained) the 
elect shall be called, justified, pardoned and sancti- 
fied; and that it is impossible that they can utterly 
refuse the call, but shall be made willing by divine 
grace, to receive the offers of mercy. 

Art. 8. We believe that justification in the sight 
of God is only by the imputed righteousness of Jesus 
Christ, received and applied by faith alone. 

Art. 9, We believe, in like manner, that God's 
elect shall not only be called and justified, but that 
they shall be converted, born again, and changed by 
the effectual workings of God's Holy Spirt. 

Art. 10. We believe that such as are converted, 
justified and called by His grace, shall persevere in 
holiness, and never fall finally away. 

Art. 11. We believe it to be a duty incumbent on 
all God's people to walk religiously in good works; 
not in the old covenant way ot seeking life and fav- 
or of the Lord by it, but only as a duty from a princi- 
ple of love. 

Art 12. We blieve baptism and the Lord's supper 
are gospel ordinances, both belonging to the true be- 
lievers; and that persons who were sprinkled, or dip- 
ed while in unbelief, were not regularly baptized ac- 



354: FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

cording to God's word, and that such ought to be 
baptized after they are savingly converted into the- 
faith of Christ. 

Art. 13. We believe that every church is independ- 
ent in matters of discipline; and that associations, 
councils and conferences of several ministers or 
churches, are not to impose on the churches the keep- 
ing, holding or maintaining any principle or practice- 
contrary to the church's judgment. 

Art. 14. We believe in the resurrection of the dead' 
both of the just and unjust, and a general judgment, 

Art. 15. We believe the punishment of the wick- 
ed is everlasting, and the joys of the righteous eter- 
nal. 

Art. 16. We believe that no minister has a right to 
the administration of the ordinances, only such as are 
regularly called and come under the imposition of 
hands by the presbytery. 

Art. 17. Lastly, We do believe that, for the mu- 
tual comfort, union and satisfaction of the several 
churches of the aforesaid faith and order, we ought 
to meet in an association way, wherein each church to- 
represent their case by their delegates, and attend as 
often as is necessary to advise with the several 
churches in conference; and that the decision of mat- 
ters in such associations are not to be imposed, or in< 
any wise binding on the churches, without their con- 
sent, but only to sit and act as an advisory council, 



THK KETOCTON ASSOCIATION. 355 

CHAPTER XXXVIL 

THE KETOCTON ASSOCIATION, 

"The best information we can gather is, that be* 
fcween the years 1750 and 1755, the first Baptist church 
in Virginia was constituted in Loudon county, and 
under the ministry of Elder- John Garrard, and nam- 
ed Ketocton. Elder Garrard returned to Berkley 
county, from whence he was driven to Loudon, by 
the Indian incursions, and Elder John Marks was 
called to the pastoral care of the church. The sec- 
ond Baptist church was constituted on Mill Creek, 
Berkley county and called Mill Creek church. Eld. 
John Garrard was its pastor. The third church was 
constituted in Shenandoah county, called Smith 
Creek, Elder John Alderson, pastor. The three 
Elders above mentioned came from the eastern states. 
These churches joined the Philadelphia Association. 
About this time a church was constituted at Broad 
Run, Fauquier county, under the ministry of Elder 
Thomas. These four churches petitioned the Phila- 
delphia Association for a dismission, in order to form 
a distinct and separate association in Virginia. Ti e 
request was granted, and in August, the 19th, 1766, 
the four churches met by letter and messengers, at 
Ketocton meeting house, Loudoun county, state of 
Virginia, and as the association met at this place the 
first time, it has retained the name of Ketocton Associ- 
ation ever since." Pristoe's History. 

My object being to establish the doctrines of 
those four churches and not having space to give 
their history a more extended notice, I will now give 
the articles of faith they agreed upon and adopted in 
the constitution of said association. 



35C) FOO'l STEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

A summary of the leading priciples held by 
this association are as follows : 

Art. I. We believe there is one living and true 
God; that He is self-existent and independent, in 
whom all power, wisdom, holiness, justice, godliness 
and truth center;who is omniscient and omnipotent— 
the Almighty Creator of all things that do exist, visi- 
ble and invisible; who upholds and governs all things 
by His providential hand, according to the council 
of His own will. 

Art. 2. That in the divine esssence there are (ac- 
cording to the Scripture) three persons or subsisten- 
ces, distinguished by the relative names of Father, 
Son and Holy Ghost; and that each subsistence pos- 
seses proper Deity ;that the work of creation is ascrib 
ed to them; divine worship is addressed to each of 
them; each of them are called by the same divine 
names — and in the name of three in One,theN"ew Tes- 
tament ordinances are to be administered. 

Art. £ That the holy Scriptures of the Old and 
New Testaments are the word of God; that they were 
given by divine inspiration, and that this system of 
revelation comprehends everything necessary for us 
to know concerning God, and the direction of our obe 
dien^e to Him, By this divine book, God hath made 
revelation of His gracious design in saving poor sin- 
ners, and pointing out the way through the media- 
tion of the Lord Jesus; that by the instrumentality of 
this sacred word, stnbhorn and obstinate sinners, are 
brought into the ordinances of faith and the incor- 
rigible left without excuse; and that by this word of 
the Lord all men shall be judged in the last day. 

Art. 4. That man was created upright, free from 
sin, and possessed with holiness of nature; that he 
fell from that innocent state in which he was creat- 

5:3a 



THE RSTOOTON ASSOCIATION, S57 

ed, by transgressing God's command, by which he be- 
came morally dead, and subjected himself to bodily 
and eternal death, and as a public head, involved his 
unborn progeny in like ruin; for all descending from 
him by ordinary generation, are born in a state of 
pollution, and under the dominion of sin, and guilty 
before God, 

Art. 5. That in eternity, God out of His own good 
pleasure chose acretain number of Adam's progeny 
to eternal life, and that He did not leave the accom- 
plishment of His decrees to accident or chance; but 
decreed all the means to bring about the event; there- 
fore they are chosen to salvation, through sanctifica- 
tion of the Spirit unto obedience and the sprinkling 
of the blood of Jesus Christ. Their calling was de- 
creed in the purpose of election. It is said, when 
called, they are called according to His purpose and 
grace given us in Christ Jesus before the world be- 
gan; and ail in order to manifest the glory of His 
grace. 

Art. 6. That the covenant of redemption was be- 
tween the Father and the Son, that the elect were 
given by the Father to the Son, to be by Him redeem- 
ed and finally saved; and that the Son as head and 
representative of His people, engaged to perform 
everything necessary or requisite to carry their com- 
plete salvation into effect. It is called in Scripture, 
a well ordered covenant, and in all things sure. 

Art. 8. That in the fulness of time, the Son of God 
was manifested, by taking human nature into union 
with His divine person, in which capacity He 
wrought a righteousness for the justification of His 
people; yielding a perfect and spotless obedience to 
all the requirements of the divine law, and submitted 
Himself to the shameful and ignominious death on the 



358 T UOTSTKPS Ob THE FLOCK. 

cross, as an atonement for their sins, and reconcilia- 
tion of their souls to God. 

Art. 8. That those that are redeemed by Christy 
are in due time called to a saving knowledge of the 
Lord Jesus — embrace him as the only way to God 
and Savior of poor sinners. This effectual calling is 
accomplished by the agency of the Holy Ghost, oper- 
ating in a free, irresistible and unfrustrable manner, by 
which the understanding is enlightened, and the will 
subjected to Christ, Hence the Scripture testify that 
they are made willing in the day of His power. This 
eternal change or new birth in the soul, is wholly as- 
cribed to the power of God; for it is said of the regen- 
ate, they are begotten of God, quickened of God y 
born of God — all expressive that it is the Lord's 
work, and He is entitled to the praise. 

Art. 9. All that are effectually called by effica- 
cious grace, are fully justified offGod. This perfect 
obedience, or in other words, the righteousness of 
Christ being imputed to them, their sins are pardon- 
ed, and their persons accepted in God's beloved Son. 
Such are taken under the care of the Great Shep- 
perd of souls, and rest on the infallible promises and 
power of God, which has engaged to protect them 
under all their trials; to succor them when tempted; 
to supply all their wants, and withhold no good thing 
from them, to continue the good work of grace be- 
gun in them, and crown the end of their faith in the 
complete salvation of their souls. 

Art. 16. That being bought with the precious 
blood of Christ, and called by rich grace, it becomes 
a bounden duty to walk in all the commandments and 
ordinances of the Lord; although jutified by grace, to 
which our works can add nothing, yet by good works- 
the glory of God is maninifested,and the|genuineness> 



BAPTIST MISSIONS IN AMERICA. 359 

<©f faith proven, which others beholding, they may be 
led to glorify God who is in heaven. 

Art 11. Lastly, that God will judge men and 
angels in the last day, by Jesus Cnnso. That when 
Christ appears in the clouds of Heaven with the sound 
•of thetrumphet, the dead saints shall be raised incor- 
ruptible and re-united to their souls; then shall they 
together with the living saints, be caught up to meet 
the Lord in the air, and so shall they be forever with 
the Lord. The wicked will be raised likewise in that 
sinful state in which they died; and never having 
been regenerated and qualified by grace for the king- 
dom of heaven, will be sentenced to unspeakable tor- 
ments forever and ever, from which there will be no 
recovery to endless duration. 



€HAP. XXXV III 

BAPTIST MISSIONS IN AMERICA, 

"The Philadelphia Association set on foot a mis- 
sionary plan about 1800. The receipts for some years 
at first were not large, but there has been a promis- 
ing increase of their means, so that they have been 
enabled to send the gospel to many destitute places." 
Benedict's History of the Baptist. 

I. Introduction of the Missionary scheme in the Ke- 
hukee Association. 

"On Friday before the first Sunday in Octo- 
ber, 1803, Elder Martin Ross, then a prominent minis- 



oGO FOOTSTEPS OFTHE FLOCK. 

ter in the Association, and at a time when the zeaE 
and credulity of many hundreds of new converts- 
were at their height, introduced the following query 
for the consideration of this Association. 

" 'Is not the Kehukee Association, with all her 
numerous and respectable friends, call on in Provi- 
dence, in some way, to step forward in support of 
that missionary spirit, which the great God is so 
wonderfully reviving amongst the different denomi- 
nations of good men in various parts of the world ?" 

"Simply to state this query is sufficient to show 
a settled purpose to depart from the original ground 
previously occupied by the Baptist, and to exhibit 
the state and standing of the Association or church 
in a light different from that previously discovered 
in her history. When was it known before, that the 
Association had "numerous and respectable friends"? 
when had she before discovered "different denomina- 
tions of good men in various parts of the world?' 7 ' 
When was it necessary before this time "to step for- 
ward in support of" any work which the God of 
Heaven was not carrying on ? If God Almighty was- 
reviving a missionary spirit among different denom- 
ination of good men in various parrs of the world r 
without the aid of new-made missionary societies,, 
then wherefore the necessity for their creation, to 
enable Him to carry it on ? We see now, a very few 
questions will show the antagonism of this 'query 7 
to the true condition of God's church and people. 

•* Why callest thou me good ? there is none good 
but one, that is God' ^Matt. xrx 17). 'There is none 
that doeth good, no not one'(Eom.in.ll). k If the world 
hat^ you, ye know that it hated me before it hated: 
you. If ye were of the world, the world would love 
its own, but because ye are not of the world, but I 



BAPTIST MISSIONS IN AMERICA. 361 

have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world 
hateth you,' John, xv. 18,19." ' 

" 'Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friend- 
ship of the of the world is enmity with God ? Whoso- 
ever therefore will be a friend of the world, is the 
enemy of God' (James, iv. 4). 'He commanded, and 
it stood fast. Remember the former things of old, 
for I am God, and there is none else, I am God, and 
there is none like me, declaring the end from the be- 
ginning, and of ancient times the things that are not 
yet done, saying My counsel shall stand, and I will 
do all my pleasure' (Isa. xlvi. 9, 10). 

,, The idea of respectability and to be like other 
people, and to help the Almighty carry on his work, 
has always been damaging to the people of God, when 
ever entertained by them in any age of the world. 
It was so under the old dispensation 
It was so under the new. It was so in Andrew Fel 
lei's day and was so in Martin Ross day. The, 
Lord's people have always been a poor and afflcted 
people. They have always been few in number, the 
persecuted among men in all ages, every where 
spoken against and cordially hated for their Master's 
and His truth's sake. A woe has befallen them when 
ever they have wrangled among themselves to see 
who should be the greatest, or to see how near they 
could be conformed to the religion of the world and 
still retain their indentity as the people of God. The 
scheme was plausible to many, it was new and beau- 
tiful to some; it was well dressed up, 
i ft was urged by good words and fair 
speeches, calculated to mislead the minds of the in- 
experienced. Those who supported it, were represent- 
ed by the orators of the occasion to be warm-hearted, 
noble Christians; while those who opposed it, were 
denominated as cold-hearted or lukewarm Christians, 



362 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

who cared but little for the salvation of their fellow- 
creatures. " — Hassell's Church History 

The matter of correspondence was renew- 
ed by the Kehukee association at its session in 1817, 
and the Association after due consideration conclud- 
ed not to send any delegates to the " General Meeting 
of Correspondence." Thus it appears the association 
dropped this "new thing," after trying it for a few 
years and finding no advantage in it. It was taken 
up in 1810 and laid down in 1816 — lasted six years. 

In 1818, '*the Association, received sixteen copies 
of the fourth annual report of, 'The Baptist Board of 
Foreign Missions from the United States Convention 
at Philadelphia. This showed the age of the Baptist 
Board of Foreign Missions to be four years. It was 
born of spurious philanphopy and false zeal in 1814. 
We are naturally led to inquire, how did the churches 
and the people of God in America get along without it 
till this auspicious year dawned upon the world? If it 
was necessary in 1814, was it not necessary 
in 1714, and in 1614, and every hundred 
years backward through the centuries to the 
apostolic ag3 ? If it was not necessary until 1814, was 
it necessary then, or can it be necessary now ? We 
cannot escape the conclusion, therefore, that the 
modern missionary system, is an invention, a human 
appendage to the church of Christ, worldly in charac- 
ter and insulting to the King of Zion. And lamen- 
table to record the Kehukee Association was implicat- 
ed in 1814 in this manner and a majority of her body 
were led into error by the blandishments of men, to 
sanction this new-fangled scheme" — Hassell's Church 
History, p, 721, &c. 

II. The attempt to introduce the Missionary cause 
in Virginia. 

Benedict in his history of the Baptist, 
says in 1812, "The Virginia Baptist, with all 
their ample means do not yet seem to have interested 



BAPTIST MISSIONS lN OlERICA. 363 

themselves in missionary concerns." (Vol. n. 441). 

1 now quote from the ministers of the Shilo Bap- 
tist Association, to show the effort made, and the re- 
sults of those efforts to induce that association to en- 
ter into the mission plan. The minutes of said As- 
sociation held with Battle Run Church in Culpeper 
County, Va., 1816, contains the following: 

Art. 10, "Bro Luther Rice, agent for the Baptist 
Board of Foreign Missions, was invited to a seat. 
Bro. Tutt,our clerk, informed the Moderator, that he 
had received a letter from the corresponding secre- 
tary of the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions, to- 
gether with thirty copies of the minutes, containing 
a report of the second annual meeting of the Board, 
which were laid upon the clerks table. Bro. Rice 
then informed the association, that the object of the 
board, was to open a correspondence by receiving 
annually a copy of our minutes and in return, for us 
to receive their annual report. The subject was 
taken up and discussed, the question being put, 
whether the association would enter into the propos- 
ed correspondence or not,it was decided in the affii- 
mative by a large majority.'' 

(Bear in mind the Baptist Board of Foreign Mis- 
sions was now only two years old.) 

Art. 11. ' k On motion of bro. Thomas Buck, Jr., and 
seconded, it was recommended to the churches to 
take into consideration the subject of Baptist Mis- 
sions, and contribute such pecuniary aid, as they 
may in their ability be disposed to give. The as- 
sociation invited Bro. Rice to preach this evening 
and tomorrow, the Lord's day." 

Session held at Robinson River Meeting House, 
Madison County, Va., Sept. 5th and 6th, 1817, 

"Bro. Luther Rice, agent for the Baptish Board 



334 FOOTSTEPS OP" THE FLOCK. 

of Foreign Missions being present, was invited to a 
seat. The clerk laid on the table a circular letter 
from the corresponding secretary of the Baptise 
Board of Foreign Missions, which was read. 

Art. 5. The clerk informed the association that 
he had received thirty copies of the third annual re- 
port of the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions. Re- 
solved that he deliver a copy to each church in our 
body," 

Art. 18. "The clerk informed the association that he 
delivered to each church belonging to the association 
one copy of the report of the Baptist Board of 
Foreign Missions, as instructed yesterday, and that the 
ten remaining copies had been sold and the money 
received byBro.Rice." 

"Session held at Rapid-Ann Meeting House, 
Madison County, Sept. 1st and 2nd, 1820. 

Art. 14. The clerk laid before the association the 
addresses of the board of managers of the Baptist 
General Convention for the United States, which 
was read, and the clerk directed to forward to the 
corresponding secretary of said board a copy of these 
minutes." 

Minutes of session held at Gourd Vine Meeting 
House in Culpeper County, commencing August 30th, 
1822. 

"The clerk laid before the Mederator a communi- 
cation from the board of managers of the General 
Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the Unit- 
ed States for Foreign missions, &c, &c, which was 
read by the Moderator and laid on the table. The 
Moderator read a communication from Elder John 
Bryce, occompanied by six copies of the minutes of 
the Virginia Baptist General Meeting of Correspon- 
dence, held in June last, requesting that the same 



BAPTIST MISSIONS IN AMERICA. 365 

might be laid before the churches for their consider- 
ation, until the next association, which was agreed 
to, and the copies distributed accordingly. The prop- 
osition made by Elder Luther Rice, for adopting 
measures to entitle this association to become a mem- 
ber of the General Convention of the Baptist Denom- 
ination of the United States, Foreign Missions, &c, 
&c, was considered, and on the question being put 
was disagreed to unanimously." 

Session held at Firery-Run Meeting House Fauq- 
uier County, Va., Sept. 6th, 1823. 

Art. 6. "Bro. William F. Broadus laid before the 
association twenty copies of the minutes of the Gen- 
eral Association of Virginia, which were distributed 
to the churches (through their Messengers) for con- 
sideration until our next association." 

Meeting held at Mount Carmel Meeting House in 
Luray, Shenandoah County, Va., Friday, September, 
3rd, 1824. 

"The subject of the General Association of Virgin- 
ia, which was referred by our last association to the 
consideration of the churches, was taken up. By 
the letters from the churches to the present associa- 
tion, it appears that a majority of them are opposed 
to a union with said association." 

Meeting held at Mount Poney Meeting House, 
Culpeper County, Va., Sept. 2nd, 1825. 

"Brethren John Bryce and James McDaniel, the 
messengers from the Baptist General Association of 
Virginia explained at' considerable length theojectof 
the said General Association and in conclusion re- 
quested this association to appoint messengers to 
visit them at their next meeting to be held in Fred- 
ericksburg, in June next. On motion made and 
seconded, Resolved, That the request be agreed to. 



366 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

and brethren John Oglivie, Edward G. Ship, W. F. 
Broadus and James Garnett, Jr., be appointed to at- 
tend accordingly, and make report to the next asso 
ciation." 

Session held at Hedyman's River Meeting House 
Jefferson County, Va,, Friday, Sept. 1st, 1826. 

"Brethren, John Oglivie, Edward Ship and W. 
F. Broadus, three of the members appointed to at- 
tend the Baptist General Association in June last, 
made a full report touching that subject, but this 
association being sentimentally opposed to the Gen 
eral Association, refused to enter the report upon the 
minutes." 

Session held at Thornton's Gap Meeting House, 
Culpeper, County, Va., Sept. 5th, 6th, 1828. 

Art. 28. "On application of the ten churches in 
this association west of the Blue Ridge, they have 
our consent to withdraw, in order to form a new as 
sociation, and our minutes containing this leave shall 
be in lieu of letters of dismission." 

On Friday, the 24th day of October,1828, the ten 
churches so dismissed met, by messengers sent from 
each of them, in New Market, Shenandoah, Co., Va., 
and held xheir first meeting and constituted the Eben- 
ezer Association, of which Elder A. C. Booton was 
moderator and Bro. W. S. Marye, clerk. 



THE BLACK ROCK CONVENTION. 367 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

THE BLACK ROCK CONVENTION. 

On the 28fch day of September, 1832. 
the Prinative Baptist, of the Old School or 
Particular order, held a convention in Black Rock 
Meeting House, Baltimore Md,, and formulated and 
issued the following address, viz: 

To the particular Baptist Churches of the old 
school in the United States: 
Brethren- 

It constitutes a new era in the history of the 
Baptist, when those who would follow the Lord 
fully, and who therefore manifest a solici- 
tude to be, in all things pertaining to religion, con- 
formed to the>pattem showed in the Mount, are by 
Baptist charged with antinomianism, inertness, 
stupidity, Sec, for refusing to go beyond the word of 
God, But such is the case with us. Brethren, we 
would not show reproach, nor seek an exemption 
from persecution, but we would affectionately entreat 
those Baptist who revile us themselves, or who side 
with such as do, to pause and consider how far they 
depart irom the ancient principles of the Baptist, how 
that in reproaching us they stigmatize the memory of 
those whom they have been used to honor as eminent 
and useful servants of Christ and of those who have 
born the brunt of the persecutions levelled agiinst 
the Baptist in former ages. For it is a well known 
fact that it was in ages past, a uniform and distin- 
guishing trait in the character of the Baptist that 
they require a, Thus saith the Lord, that is, di- 
rect authority from the word of God, for the order 
and practices, as well as the doctrine, they received 
in religion. It is true, that many things to which we 



368 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FEOCK. 

object as departures from the order established by 
the Great Head of the church, through the ministry 
of his apostles, are by others considered to be con- 
nected with the very essence of religion and absolute- 
ly necessary to the prosperity of Christ's Kingdom; 
they attach great virtue to them, because human 
wisdom suggests their importance. We allow the 
Head of the church alone to judge for us; we there- 
fore esteem those things to be of no use to the cause 
of Christ, which He, Himself, has not instituted. We 
will notice severally the claims of the principal of 
these moderm innovations, and state some of our ob- 
jections to them for your consideration. 

Tract Societies. — We commence with Tract Societies. 
These claim to be exceedingly useful. Tracts claim their 
thousands of converts; they claim the prerogative of 
carrying the news of salvation into the holes and cor- 
ners where the gospel would otherwise never come, 
of going as on the wings of the wind, carrying salva- 
tion in their train, and they claim each of them to 
contain gospel enough, should it go where the Bible 
has never come, to lead a soul to the knowledge of 
Christ. The nature and extent of these and like 
claims, made in favor of tracts by their advocates, 
constitute a good reason why we should reject them. 
These claims represent tracts as possessing in these 
respects a superiority over the Bibie, and over the in- 
stitution of the gospel ministry, which is charging 
the Great I am, with a deficiency of wisdom. Yet 
they charge God with folly; for why has He given us 
the extensive revelation contained in the Bible, and 
given the Holy Spirit to take of the things of Christ 
and show them to us,\f a little tract, of four pages, can 
lead a soul to the knowledge of Christ? But let us 
consider the more rational claims presented by others 
in favor of tracts;as they constitute a convenient way 



THE BLACK ROCK CONVENTION. 3t59 

of disseminating religious instruction among the 
more indigent and thoughtless classes of society. 
Admitting the propriety of this claim, could it be kept 
separate from other pretentions, still can we submit 
to the distribution of tracts becoming an order of 
our churches, or our associations, without counte- 
nancing the prevailing idea that tracts have become 
an instituted means, approved of God, for the conver- 
sion of sinners? and hence the distribution of them is 
a religious act, and on a footing with supporting the 
gospel ministry. 

If we were to admit that tracts may have occa- 
sionlly been made instrumental by the Holy Ghost 
for imparting instruction, or comfort to enquiring 
minds, it would by no means imply that tracts are an 
instituted means of salvation (to speak after the pop- 
ular religionists), nor that they should be placed on a 
footing with the Bible and the preached gospel in re- 
spect to imparting the knowledge of salvation. 

Again, we readily admit the propriety of an ind- 
vidual's publishing and distributing, or several indi- 
viduals uniting to publish and distribute, what they 
wish circulated, whether in form of tracts or other 
wise; but still we cannot admit the properity of unit- 
ing with or upon the plans of the existing Tract 
Societies; even laying aside the idea of their being at- 
tempted to be palmed upon us as religious institu- 
tions. 

Because, that upon the plan of these societies, 
those who unite with them, pay them money for pub- 
lishing and distributing, they know not what, under 
the name of religious truth; and what is worse, they 
submit to have sent into their families weekly or 
monthly, and to circulate among their neighbors, 
anything and everything for religious reading, which 
the agent or publishing committee may see fit to 

24 



%7Q FOOTSTEPS CT-F THE FLOXTFw 

publish. They thus become accustomed to receive? 
everything as good, which comes under the name of 
religion^ whether it be according to the word of God 
or not; and are trained to the habit of letting others- 
judge for them in matters of religion,- an therefore 
fast becoming dupes of priestcraft. Can any con- 
scientious follower of the Lamb submit to such plans? 
If others can, we cannot.' 7 

Sunday Schools. — 'These assume the same high stand, 
as do the Tract Societies. They claim the honor of 
converting their tens of thousands;, of leading the- 
tender minds of children to the knowledge of Jesusp 
of being as properly the instituted means of bringing 
children to the knowledge of salvation, as is the- 
preaching of the gospel that of bringing adults to 
the same knowledge, &c. Such arrogant pretentions 
we fell bound to oppose. 

Firstly. Because these, as the pretentions- 
^f the Tract Societies, are grounded upon? 
the notion, that the conversion or regeneration is pro- 
duced by impressions made upon the natural mind, 
by means of religious sentiments installed into it;anc£ 
if the Holy Ghost is allowed to be at all concerned in 
the thing, it is in away which implies his being 
somehow blended with the instruction, or necessari- 
ly attendant upon it; all of which we know to be 
wrong. 

Szond-li/: Becanse such schools were never es- 
tablished by the apostles, or commanded by Christ. 
There were children in the days of the apostles. The 
apostles possessed as great desire for the salvation of 
souls, as much love for the cause of Christ, and knew 
as well what God would own for bringing persons to 
the knowledge of salvation, as any do at this day; we 
therefore must believe that if these schools were of 



THE BLACK ROCK CONVENTION. 371 

€k>d, we should fine some account of them in the New 
Testament. 

Thirdly: We have exemplified, in the case of the 
Pharisees the evil conseqneaces of instructing chil- 
dren in the letter of the Scripture, under the notion, 
that this instruction constitutes a saving acquaint- 
ance with the word of God. We see in that instance 
it only made hypocrites of the Jews and as the scrip- 
tures declare that Christ's words are spirit and life, 
and that the natual man receiveth not the things of 
ihe spirit of God, we car/not believe it will have any 
better effect on the children in our day. 

The Scriptures injoin upon parents to bring up their 
children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; 
but instead of countenancing, forbids the idea of par- 
ents intrusting the religions education of their chil- 
dren to giddy, un regenerated young people, who 
"know no better than to build them up in the belief 
that they are learning the religion of Christ, and. to 
confirm them in their natual notions of their own 
^goodness. 

But whilst we thus stand opposed to the plan and 
mse of these Sunday Schools, and to the S. S» Union, 
in every point, we wish it to be distinctly understood, 
that we consider Sunday Schools, for the purpose of 
teaching the poor children to read, whereby they 
may be enabled to read the Scripures for themselves, 
in neighborhoods where there is occasion for them, 
and when properly conducted, without that ostenta- 
tion so commonly connected with them, to be useful, 
and benevolent institutions worthy of the patronage 
of all the friends of civil liberty. 

Bible Societies. — "We are aware, brethren, that 
these institutions present themselves to the mind of 
the Christian, as supported by the most plausible pre- 



372 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

texts. Tie idea of giving the Bible without note or 
comment, to those who are unable to procure it for 
themselves^ is in itself, considered to meet the appro- 
bation of al] who know the importance of the sacred 
Scriptures. But under this auspicions guise, we see 
in the case of the American Bible Society, an institu- 
tion as foreign from any thing which the gospel of 
Christ calls for, as the kingdoms of this world are 
are from the kingdom of Christ. We see a combina- 
tion formed, in which are united the man of the world, 
the vaunting professor, and the humble followers of 
Jesus; leading characters in politics, the dignitaries 
in church, and from them some of every grade, down 
to the poor servant girl, who can snatch from her 
hard earned wages fifty cents a year for the privilege 
of being a member. We see united in this combina- 
tion, all parties in politics, and all sects in religion, 
and the distinctive differences of the one, and the 
sectarion barriers of the other, in part thrown aside 
to form the union. At the head of this vast party we 
see placed a few leading characters, who have m 
their hands the management of its enormous printing- 
estableshrnent, and its immense funds, and the con- 
trol of its powerful influence, extended by means of 
agents and auxiliaries to any part of the United 
States. We behold its anniversary meetings convert- 
ed into a great religious parade, and* forming- a thea- 
ter for the orator who is ambitious of preferment, 
either in the pulpit, in legislative hall, or at the bar r 
to display his eloquence and elicit the cheers of the 
grave assemblage. Now, brethren, to justify our op- 
position to the Bible Society, it is not necessary for 
us to say that its members have manifested a dispo- 
sition to employ its power to the subversion of our 
liberties. It is enough for us to say — 



THE BLACK ROCK CONVENTION. S73 

First. That such a monstrous combination, con- 
centrating so much power in the hands of a few indi- 
viduals, could never be necessary for supplying the 
destitute with Bibles. Individual printing establish- 
ments, would readily be extended so as to supply libles 
to any amount, and in any language that might be 
■called for; and at as cheap a rate, as they have ever 
been sold by the Bible Society. 

Second. The humble followers of Jesus could ac- 
complish tbeir benevolent wishes, for supplying the 
needy with Bibles, with more effect and more to their 
.satisfaction, by managing the purchase and distribu- 
tion of them for themselves. And such will never 
seek popular applause by having their liberality 
trumpeted abroad through the medium of the Bible 
Society. 

Third. That the Bible Society, whether we con- 
sider it in its monied foundation for membership 
and directorship, in its hoarding of funds, in its 
blending together all distinctions between the church 
and the world, or in its concentration of power, is an 
institution never contemplated by the Lord Jesus as 
connected with his kingdom; therefore not a com- 
mand concerning it is given in the decree published, 
njra sketch of it drawn in the pattern showed." 

Missions. — Previous to stating our objections to 
the missions plans, we will meet some false charges 
brought against us relative to the subject, by a simple 
declaration, that we do regard as of the first impor- 
tance, the command given by Christ, primarily to 
his apostles and through them to his ministers in every 
age, to "Go into all the world and preach the gospel 
to every creature" and do feel an earnest desire to be 
found acting in obedience thereunto, as the provi- 



374 FOOTSTEPS £PF THE FLOCK 

denee of God directs our way and open the door of ut- 
terance for us. We also believe it to be the duty of 
individuals and churches to contribute according to- 
their ability, for the support, not only of their pas- 
tors 1 but for the support also of those who go preach- 
ing the gospel of Christ among the destitute. But 
we at the same time contend, that we have no right 
to depart from the order which the Master himself 
has seen fit to lay down, relative to the ministration 
of the word. We therefore cannot fellowship the 
plans for spreading the gospel, generally adopted at 
this day under, the name of missions. 

1st. Mission Societies — They are so organized, that 
the unregenerated, the enemies of the Cross of Christ, 
have equal privileges as to membership, &c, with the 
people of God, and money is the principal considera- 
tion^ certain sum entitles to membership,a still larger- 
sum to a life membership, and a still larger to a direc- 
torship, &c, so that their constitution (contrary to 
James), are partial, saying to the rich man sit thou 
here, and to the poor, stand thou there. In Christ's- 
kingdom, all his subjects are sons and have equal 
rights and an equal voice, as well in calling persons 
into the ministry as in other things. But the mission 
administration is all lodged in the hands of a few, who 
are distinguished from the rest, by great swelling 
titles, as Presidents, Vice-Presidents, &c. Again, 
each gospel church acts as the independent kingdom 
of Christ, in calling and sending forth its members in- 
to the ministry. Very different from this is the mis- 
sion' order. The mission community being so ar- 
ranged that from the little Mite Society, on to the/ 
State Conventions, and from them onto the Biennial 
Convention, and General Board, there is a general 
amalgamation, and concentration of power in the 



THE BLACK ROCK CONVENTION. "375 

Hiands of a dozen dignitaries, who, with some excep- 
tions, have all the control of all the funds designed for 
supporting among the destitute, at home and abroad, 
and the soverign authority to designate who from 
among the professed ministers of Christ shall be sup- 
ported from these funds, and also to assign them the 
fields of their labors. Yea, the authority to appoint 
females, and school-masters, and printers, and farm! 
ers as such, to be solnmly set apart by prayer and 
the imsposition of hands, as missionaries of the cross, 
and to be supported from these funds. Whereas in 
tmcient times the preacher of the gospel were called 
by the Holy Ghost, Acts xiii. 1,4. 

2nd. In reference to Ministerial Support. The 
gospel order is to extend support to them who preach 
the gospel. But the mission plan is to hire persons 
to preach. The gospel order is not to prefer one be- 
fore another, and to do nothing by partiality. See 
1 Tim. v. 17, 21. But the Mission Boards exclude al- 
f rom participation in the benefits of their funds, who 
do not come under their direction, and own their au- 
thority, however regularly they may have been set 
apart according to gospel order, to the work of the 
ministry, and however zealously they my be labor- 
ing to preach the gospel among the distitute. And 
what is more, these Boards by their auxiliaries and 
agents, so scour every hole and corner, to scrape up 
money for their funds, the people think they have 
nothing left to give a preacher who may come among 
them alone, upon the authority of Christ, and by 
the fellowship of the church. Formerly, not only did 
preachers generally feel themselves bound to devote a 
part of their time traveling and preaching among 
the destitute, but the people also, among whom they 
come dispensing the word of life, felt themselves 
bound to contribute something to meet their expenses. 



37fi FOOTSTEPS OFTHE FLOCK. 

These were the days when Christian affection flower! 
freely. The heart of the preachers flowed out toward 
the people and the affections of the people were man- 
ifested toward the preachers who visited them. 
There was then more preaching of the gospel among 
the people at large, according to the number of Bap- 
tist. than has every been since the rage of missions 
commenced. How defferent are things now from 
what they were in by-gone days. Now, generally 
speaking, persons who are novices in the gospel, how- 
ever learned they may profess to be in the sciences^ 
have taken the field in the place of those, who hav- 
ing been taught in the school of Christ, were capaci- 
tated to administer consolation to God's afflicted 
people. The missionary, instead of going into such 
neighborhoods as Christ's ministers used to visit;, 
where they would be most likely to have an oppor- 
tunity of administering food to the poor of the Hock r 
seeks the more populous villages and towns, where 
he can attract the most attention, and do the most to 
promote the cause of missions and other popular ins- 
titutions. His leading motive, judging from his 
movements, is, not the love of souls, but love of fame; 
hence his anxiety to have something to publish of 
what he has done, and hence his anxiety to consti- 
tute churches, even taking disaffected, disorderly^ 
and, as'has been the case, excluded persons, to form a 
church, in the absent of better materials. And the 
people instead of glowing with affection for the 
preacher as such, feel burdened with the whole sys- 
tem of modern mendicancy, but have not resolution 
to shake off their oppression, because it is represent- 
ed so deistical to withhold and so popular to give. 
Brethren, we cheerfnlly acknowledge that there 
have been some honorable exceptions to the character 
we have here drawn of the mo 'em Missionary societies- 



THE BLACK ROCK CONVENTION. 377 

and some societies have existed under the name of 
mission societies, which were in some important 
points exceptions from the above drawn sketch. 
But on a general scale, we believe we have given a 
correct view of the mission plan and operations and 
of the effects which result from them, and our hearts 
really sicken at the state of things. How can we 
therefore forbare to express our disapprobation of the 
system that has produced it. 

Colleges and Theological Schools. — In speaking of col- 
leges, we wish to be distincly understood, that it is 
not colleges, or collegiate educations as such, that we 
have any objection to. We would cheerfully afford 
our own children such an education, did our circum- 
stances warrant the measure. But we object, in the 
first place, to sectarian colleges as such. The idea 
of a Baptist College and a Prestbyterian College, 
&c, necessarily implies that oar distinct views of 
church government, of gospel doctrine and gospel 
ordinances, are connoted with human science, a prin- 
cipal which we cannot abmit; for we believe the 
kingdom of Christ to be altogether a kingdom not 
of this world. In the second place, we object to the 
notion of attaching professorship of divinity to col- 
leges; because this evidently implies that the revela- 
tion which God has made of himself is a human sci- 
ence, on a footing with mathematics, philosophy, law 
&c, which is contrary to the general tenor of revela- 
tion, and indeed to the very idea itself of a revela- 
tion. We, perhaps, need not add, that we have, for 
the same reasons, strong objections to colleges con- 
fering degrees of doctor of divinity, and to preachers 
receiving it." 

Thirdly. We decidedly object to persons, af- 
ter professing 10 have teen called of the Lord to 



378 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

preach his gospel, going to a college or academy to 
fit themselves for that service. 1st. Because we be- 
lieve that Christ possesses perfect knowledge of his 
own purposes and of the proper instruments by which 
to accomplish them. If he has occasion for a man of 
science, He having power over all flesh will so order 
it that the individual shall obtain the requisite learn- 
ing before he calls him to his service, as was the case 
with Saul of Tarsus, and others since; and thus avoid 
subjecting himself to the imputation of weakness. 
For.should Christ, call a person to labor in the gospel 
field, who was unqualified for the work assigned him, 
it would manifest him to be deficient in knowledge 
relative to the proper instruments to employ, or defec- 
tive in power to provide them. 2nd. Because we be- 
lieve that the Lord calls no man to preach his pospel, 
till he has made him experimentally acquainted with 
that gospel, and endowed with the proper measure of 
gifts suiting the field he designs him to occupy. And 
the person himself, in obedience to the voice of Christ, 
will find himself learning in Christ's own school 
But when a person professedly called of Christ to the 
gospel ministry, concludes that, in order to be useful, 
he must first go and obtain and academical education; 
he must judge that human science is of more impor- 
tance in the ministry, than that knowledge and those 
gifts which Christ imparts to his servants. To act 
consistently then with his own principles, he will 
place his own chief dependence for usefulness on his 
scientific knowledge, and aim mostly to display this 
in his preaching. This person, therefore, will per- 
sue a very different course in his preaching, from 
that marked out by the great apostle of the gentiles, 
who was determined to know nothing among the peo- 
ple, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. 
As to Theological Schools, we shall at present con- 



THti BLACK ROCK CONVENTION. 379 

tent ourselves with saying that they are a reflection 
upon the faithfulness of the Holy Ghost, who is en- 
gaged according to the promise of the Great Head of 
the church, to lead the disciples into all truth. See 
John xvi. 13. Also in every age, from the school of 
Alexandria down to this day, they have been a real 
pest to the church of Christ. Of this we could pro- 
duce abundant proof, did the limits of our address 
admit their insertion. 

Four Days or Protracted Meetings. — Before stating 
our objections to these, however, we would 
observe that we consider the example worthy 
to be imitated, which the apostles set, of em- 
bracing every opportunity, consistent with prudence, 
for preaching the gospel wherever they met with an 
assembly, whether in a Jew's synagogue on the sev- 
enth day, or in a Christian assembly, on the first day 
of the week, and the exhortation, to be instant in 
season and out of season, we would gladly accept. 
Therefore, when, and whenever circumstances call a 
congregation together from day to day, as an associ- 
ation, or the like, we would embrace the opportunity 
of preaching the gospel to them so often as they shall 
come together. But to;the principles and plans of 
protracted meetings, distinguishingly so called, we 
do decidedly object. The principles of these meet- 
ing?, we cannot fellowship. Regeneration we believe 
is exclusively the work of the Holy Ghost, performed 
by his divine power, at His own sovereign pleasure, 
according to the provisions of the everlasting cove- 
nant. But these meetings are gotten up, either for the 
purpose of inducing the Holy Spirit to regenerate 
multitudes, who otherwise would not be converted, 
or convert themselves by the machinery of the meet- 
ings, or rather to bring them into their churches by 



380 FOOTSTEPS, OF THE FLOCK. 

means of exciting their animal feelings, without any 
regard to their being born again. Whichever of these 
may be considered the true ground upon which these 
meetings are founded, we are at a loss to know how 
aay person who knows what it is to be born again, 
can countenance them. The plans of these meet- 
ings are equally as objectionable. 

For, in the first place, all doctrinal 
preaching, or in other words, all illustrations 
of Gol's plan of salvation is excluded, profes- 
sedly, from these meetings. Hence they would 
make believers of their converts, without presenting 
any fixed thruths to their minds to believe. Where- 
as God has chosen his people to salvation through 
salification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth. 
2 Thess. ii. 13. 

2nd. The leaders of these meetings fix standards 
by which to decide of persons repentance, and desire 
of salvation, which the word of God no where war- 
rants; such as rising off their seats,coming to anxious 
seats, or going to a certain place, &c. Whereas the 
New Testament has given us a standard from which 
we have no right to depart, viz.: that of bringing 
forth fruits meet for repentance. 

3rd. They lead the people to depend on media- 
tors other than the Lord Jesus Christ, to obtain peace 
for them, by offering themselves as intercessors for 
them with God; whereas the Scriptures acknowledge 
but the one God as Mediator. 

Some may be ready to enquire whether protract- 
ed meetings, as such, may not with propreity be held, 
provided they be held without excluding doctrinal 
preaching, or introducing any of these plans. How- 
ever others may judge an act, we cannot approve of 
such meetings for the following reasons: 

1st. Because by approving and holding a pro- 
tracted meeting as such, although we may not carry 



THE BLACK ROCK CONVENTION, 331 

it to the same excess, to which others do, yet as most 
people make no distinction between it, and those 
meetings, where all the borrowed machinery from 
Methodist camp-meetings is introduced, we shall gen- 
erally be considered as countenancing those meetings. 

2nd. Because the motives we could have for 
conforming to the custom of holding these newly in- 
vented meetings, are such as we think cannot bear 
the test. For we must be induced thus to conform to 
the reigning custom, either in order to shun the 
reproach generally attached to those who will not 
conform to what is proper, or try the experiment 
whether our holding a four days' meeting will not 
induce the Holy Ghost to produce a revival among 
us, commensurate with the strange fire kindled by 
others; or else we must be led to this plan, from hav- 
ing imbibed the notion that the Holy Ghost is some- 
how so the creature of human feelings, that he is lead 
to regenerate persons, by our getting their animal feel- 
ings excited; and therefore, that in the same pro- 
portion, as we can by any measure, get the feelings 
of the people aroused, there will be a revival of re- 
ligion. This latter notion can scarcely be supposed 
to have place with any who would not go the whole 
length of every popular measure. 

But, 1st. We do not believe it becoming a fol- 
lower of Jesus to seek an exemption from reproach 
by conforming to the schemes of men. 

2nd. We believe the Holy Ghost to be too sacred 
a being to be trifled with, by experiments upon him. 

And, 3rd. We believe the Holy Ghost to be God. 
We would as soon expect that the Father would be 
induced to predestinate persons to the adoption of 
children, by their feelings being excited and the Son 
be induced to redeem them, as that the Holy Ghost 
would be induced thus to quicken them. These three 



38*2 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

are one. The purpose of the Father, the redemption 
of the Son, and the regenerating power of the Holy 
Ghost, must run in perfect accordance, and commen- 
surate, one with the other. 

Brethren, we have thus laid before you some of 
our objections to the popular schemes in religion, and 
the reasons why we cannot fellowship them. Ponder 
these things well, weigh them in the balances of the 
sanctuary; and then say if they are not such as justi- 
fy us in standing aloof from those plans of men. and 
these would-be religious societies, which are bound 
together, not by the fellowship of the gospel, but by 
certain money payments. If you cannot for your- 
selves meet the reproach by separating youreelves 
from these things which the word of God does not 
warrant, still allow us the privilege of obeying God 
rather than man. 

There is, brethren, one radical difference between 
us and those who advocate these various institutions 
which we have noticed, to which we wish to call 
your attention. It is this; they declare the gospel to 
be a system of means; the means it appears they be- 
lieve to be of human contrivance; and they act ac- 
cordingly. But we believe the gospel dispensation to 
embrace a system of faith and obedience, and we 
would act according to our belief. We, believe for 
instance, that the seasons of declension, of darkness, 
of persecution, &c, to which the church of Christ is at 
time, subject, are designed by the wise Disposer of all 
events, not for calling forth the inventive genius of 
men to remove the difficulties; but for the trying the 
faith of God's people in his wisdom, power, and faith- 
fulness, to sustain his church. On him, therefore, 
would we repose our trust, and wait his hour of 
deliverance, rather than rely upon an arm of flesh. 
Are we called to the ministry, although we may feel 



THE BLACK EOCK CONVENTION. 383 

our own insufficiency for the work, as sensibly as do 
others; yet we would go forward in the path of duty 
marked out, believing that God is able to accomplish 
his purpose by such instruments as he chooses; that 
he hath chosen the foolish things of the world to con- 
found the wise, and the weak things of the world to 
confound, the things that are mighty, and base things, 
<Scc, hath God chosen, that no flesh should glory in his 
presence. Though we may not enjoy the satisfaction 
of seeing multitudes nocking to Jesus under our own 
ministry, yet instead of going into Hagar, to accom- 
plish the promises of God; or resorting to any of the 
contrivances of men to make up the deficiency, we 
would still be content to preach the word, and, ivould 
be instant in season and out of season; knowing it 
has pleased God, not by the wisdom of men,butby the 
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe; 
and that his word ivill not return unto him void, but 
it shall accomplish that which he pleases, and shall 
prosper in the things whereunto he sent it^ Faith in 
God, instead of leading us to contrive ways to help 
him accomplish his purposes, leads us to inquire what 
he hath required at our hands, and to be satisfied 
with doing that, as we find it pointed out in his word; 
for we know that his purposes shall stand, and he 
will do his pleasure. Jesus says, believe in God; be- 
lieve also in Me. Ye believe in the power of God to 
accomplish his purposes, however contrary things 
may appear to work, and to your expectations. So 
believe in My power to accomplish the great work 
of saving My people. In a word, as the dispensation 
of God by the hand of Moses, in bringing Israel out 
of Egypt and leading them through the wilderness, 
was from first to last calculated to try Israel's faith 
in God, so is the dispensation of God by his Sen, in 
bringing his spiritual Israel to be a people to himself. 



384 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

There being, then this radical difference between 
us and the patrons of these modern institutions, the 
question which has long since been put forth, pre- 
sents itself afresh for our consideration in all its 
lorce, "Can two wa,l£ together except they be 
agreed"? We believe that many who love our Lord 
Jesus Christ, are engaged in promoting these institu- 
tions, which they acknowledge to be of modern origin; 
and they are promoting them, too, as religious insti- 
tutions; whereas if they would reflect a little on the 
orgin and nature of the Christian religion, they must 
be, like us, convinced that this religion must remain 
unchangeably the same at this day, as we find it de- 
livered in the New Testament. Hence, that any- 
thing, however highly esteemed it may be among men, 
which is not found in the Scrptures, has no just 
claim to be acknowledged as belonging to the relig- 
ion or the religious institutions of Christ. 

With all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in truth, 
and walk according to apostolic traditions, or gos- 
pel order, we would gladly meet in church relation 
and engage with them in the worship and services of 
God, as he himself has ordered them. But if they 
will presist in bringing those institutions for which 
they can show us no example in the New Testament, 
into churches or associations, and in making them 
the order thereof, we shall for conscience sake, be 
compelled to withdraw from the disorderly walk of 
such churches, associations, or individuals, that we 
may not suffer our names to pass as sanctioning those 
things for which we have no fellowship. And if 
persons who would pass for preachers, will come to 
us, bringing the messages of men, &c,, — a gospel 
which they have learned in their schools, instead of 
that gospel which Christ, himself, commits unto his 
servants, and which is not learned of men, — they must 



THE BLACK ROCK CONVENTION. 385 

not be surprised that we canaot acknowledge them 
as ministers of Christ. 

Now, brethren, addressing ourselves to you who 
profess to be Particular Baptists, of the "Old 
School," who are practicing such things as you have 
learned only from the, ''New School," it is for you 
to say — not us whether we can longer walk in union 
with you. We regret, and so do you, to see brethren 
professing the same faith, severing apart. But if you 
will compel us either to sanction the traditions and 
inventions of men, as of religious obligation, or sep- 
erate from you, the sin lieth at your door. If you 
meet in churches to attend only to the order of 
Christ's house, as laid down by himself ;and in associ- 
ations upon the ancient principles of Baptist Associ- 
ations, i, e., as an association of churches for keep- 
ing up a brotherly correspondence one with another, 
that they may strengthen each other in the good 
ways of the Lord, instead of turning the association 
into a kind of legislative body, formed for the pur- 
pose of contriving plans to help along the work of 
Christ, and for imposing those contrivances as bur- 
dens upon the churches, by resolutions, &c, as is the 
manner of some, we can still go on with you in peace 
and fellowship. 

Thus, brethren our appeal is before you. Treat 
it with contempt, if you can dispise the cause for 
which we contend, i. e.. conformity to the word of 
God. But indulge us, we beseech you, so far at least, 
as to our request, to sit down and carefully count the 
cost on both sides; and see whether this shunning 
reproach by conforming to men's notions, will not in 
the end be a much more expensive course, than to 
meet reproach at once, by honoring Jesus as your 
King, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the peo- 
ple of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a 



386 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

season. And rebellion, you know, is as the sin of 
witchcraft. 

May the Lord lead you to judge and act upon 
this subject as you will wish you had done when you 
come to see the whole matter of human inventions in 
connection with the Man of sin, driven away like the 
chaff of the summer threshing floor, and that Stone 
which was cut out without hands alone filling the 
earth. We subscribe ourselves your servants for 
Jesus sake. 

At this time, the names Old and New School 
Baptist originated. The Old School never desiring it to 
be heaped upon them, in giving them their name (Old 
School) the New School have claimed to be the Prim- 
itive Baptists, but failing in their efforts to prove 
their pretentions, now claim to be "the Baptists, ' r 
and are commonly known as the Missionary Baptists,. 

The date of their existence, only reaches back to 
Fuller and Cary, of England, and is given in this 
work. 



CHAPTER XL. 

RAPPAHANNOCK ASSOCIATION. 

Pursuant to a resolution passsed by Battle Run, 
Gourd Vine and Robertson River churches in May 
before, said churches, by their letters and messengers, 
met in Battle Run meeting house in Rappahannock 
Co.,Va.,on Friday the 22nd day of September, 1873, for 
the purpose of entering into and forming an Associa- 



BAPPAHANNOCK ASSOCIATION. 387 

lion. The cause for meeting is assigned in the min- 
utes of that meeting, and are as follows : 

"Now, dear brethren, you have not forgotten 
the trials and tribulations you have experienced for 
years past, by innovations introduced among us, 
which utterly broke up our peace, and drove us to the 
necessity of drawing off from the Shilo Association. 
In that isolated and unpleasant situation we have 
had to remain, or unite ourselves with an association 
of our faith and order, at a great distance from us, or 
do as we have done. After due and mature delibera- 
tion, and we hope prayerful inquiry of the Lord, our 
minds were directed to the present course; hoping, 
therefore, in this we have mind of the Lord: and if 
the Lord is for us who can be against us. 

"It appears then, that in the fear of God, with an 
eye to his glory, and for conscience sake, we have 
separated ourselves from them, who we believe were 
walking disorderly; for there were many things that 
had been introduced into the Shilo Association, both 
in doctrine and practice, we believe to be contrary 
to the Scriptures, and by no means in accordance 
with our experience, which we could not fellowship. 
T Ve have chosen rather, therefore, to suffer affliction 
with the people of God, than dwell with the popular 
religionists of this day. Seeing then, dear brethren, 
that the people of God are not reckoned among the 
nations of the earth, we should not esteem it a grief, 
but consider it a great blessing that we are permitted 
to dwell alone;and if you live godly, you must expect 
persecutions. * * * In many of the associations, dis- 
cord and divisions are destroying the harmony of the 
churches, and that was cur unfortunate situation, 
and the cause of our assembling ourselves on the 
present occasion; we wish to correspond with all pro- 
fessors in Christ who can fellowship us in faith and 



388 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

in practice; for we are commanded to separate our- 
selves from amongst them, meaning those that obey 
not God's word, or practice things contrary to Gods 7 
word, &c. 

"We believe there are many institutions called 
benevolent, and by many esteemed consistent with 
the Scriptures, and consequently religious — that as 
at present organized upon a monied basis, are with- 
out divine authority, destructive of the peace and 
harmony of the churches and inconsistent with due 
loyalty to the Great King in Zion, and reverence of 
his righteous mandates — of which we will mention 
the Missionary, Bible, Temperance, Sabbath School, 
Tract and Might Societies, Theological Seminaries,. 
&c, &c, which we believe to be at war with God's 
word, consequently have no fellowship for them." 

This (the Rappahannock Association), the last 
association constituted in Virginia by the Old School 
Baptists, proclaim the doctrines held and taught by 
Christ and His apostles, thus treading in the foot- 
steps of His flock, and fulfilling His word ; My sheep 
hear my voice and they follow me; a stranger they wilt 
not follow; for they know not the voice of a stranger, 



CHAPTER XLL 

THE EBENEZER ASSOCIATION. 



In the minutes of the "Ebenezer Association of 
Old School Baptist, held with Mt. Carmel Church, 
Luray, Va., August 25th, 1893," we find the follow- 
ing : 



THE EBENEZER ASSOCIATION, 389 

Arianism. — "About the year of L850, another heresy 
began to make its appearance. A faction sprang up 
in our midst, teaching that Christ is a creature, the 
first prodution of Divine Power, and that all the 
chosen family were everlastingly created in Him, hav- 
ing actual life given them before time began, which 
life is spiritual, being identical with Christ; that God 
made the world by Cnrist as Solomon mide the tem- 
ple by heaven, and many other as barefaced heresies; 
for all of which the Ketocton Association at its ses- 
sion in 1852 passed the following preamble and resolu- 
tions, viz. : 

" 'Whereas, a letter was receive I yesterday, by 
the hands of Bro. Lynn, from Chappawanesie Church, 
setting forth and declaring non-fellowship for cer- 
tain doctrines and sentiments which have been ad- 
vanced and inculcated by certain elders, or minis- 
ters, with whom said church has recently had corres- 
pondence; such as' the life giving Spirit of God is a 
created existence, the Son of God, as the Head of the 
church, is a creature, &c; and; whereas, the said 
church, asks us, through her messengers aforesaid, 
whether we hold and believe said doctrine, and 
others of kindred character, referred to in said letter, 
that the said church may be governed in her future 
action in reference to her future correspondence with 
us, by the answer we give thereto : 

' r< Resolved, Therefore, that we unhesitatingly re- 
ject those sentiments as being heretical, and that we 
have no fellowship for them, or those who believe 
them. 

'"Resolved, Also, that we have no fellowship for 
sentiments advocated in the presence of the associa- 
tion this day, to-wit; that when Christ died and lay 
in the grave three days and three nights, there was 
not a living saint in heaven or upon the earth during 



'390 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

that time, and that Christ will not come a second 
time to this world — now put and adopted/ ' : 

Thus the Ketocton association rid herself of 
those heresies — and the Ebenezer and other associa- 
tions concided with her. There were also additional 
resolutions passed in 1852 by this and the Ketocton 
association. 

Renewal of the Means Heresy. ''Under the guise of op- 
position to Arian heresy, a party has arisen, which is 
seeking to renew the very things in our midst, which 
caused the division between the Old and New School 
Baptists, as we have shown. 

"Seeing the coming evil, this association [Ebe- 
nezer] in 1879 warned the church of its appoach, in 
the following unmistakable language. Permit us 
now to call your attention to the action of one or two 
more of a cloud of witnesses, yet living. 1st. The Ke- 
tocton Association, after 34 year of experience, in its 
session 1834, passed the following resolution against 
these things: 

'"Resolved, That we have no Christian fellowship 
for those who advocate Missionary, Bible. Tract or 
Temperance Societies, Sunday School union, or Anx : 
ious Seats, or anything of the kind, as a religious in- 
stitution or means of grace. Nor with any person 
who communes with them in the sense above ex- 
pressed.'" 

The Rappahannock association expressed the 
same sentiment. 

The Ebenezer association united with these two 
associations against these things; and her past con- 
duct in keeping aloof from them 45 years, shows the de- 
sign of her action. Let us flee these innovations, keep 
ourselves free from them, and make the word of God 
the man of our counsel; which teaches us to pray the 



THE EBKNEZKR ASSOCIATION. 3$1 

Lord of the harvest to fill His fields with laborers, to 
commit the souls of our children and their eternal 
salvation unto Him, as unto a faithful Creator, and 
pray 'Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth 
as it is in heaven." 

Persistence of the Means Party, "Notwithstanding 
this faithful warning, and disapproval of the associa- 
tion, and her declaration of non- fellowship for 
churches and individuals holding and practicing any 
or all of these heresies, a faction met at a private 
house during the meeting of the Ketocton association, 
of which some were members, all professing like pre- 
cious faith with her, on Saturday evening before the 
3rd Sunday in August, 1883, and entered into the fol- 
lowing covenant : 

" 'We the undersigned elders and pastors of the 
Baptist churches of the Ketocton, Ebenezer and other 
associations, deploring the sad state in which many 
of the churches are found, and with anxious desire 
for their edification and the advancement of the 
cause and interest of truth, and having in view 
our own spiritual comfort and official usefulness, and 
the claims of our Lord and Master upon our faitful 
allegiance, would in the fear of God covenant with 
each other as follows : 

" '1st. In view of the divine command to honor 
each other, we will make each others usefulness the 
object of our prayer to God, and we will make com- 
mon cause with each other in defence of the truth, 
peace and union of the churches of our several 
charges, against opponents of the truth, pretended 
friends and disorganizes, so far as they shall become 
apparent to us. We covenant in these things we will 
stand shoulder to shoulder and walk hand in hand. 

'"2nd. If even the reputation of any of us shall be 
assailed, we will entertain no evil report or suspicion 



392 FOOTSTEPS OF THK FLOCK. 

concerning him, which may reach our ears, but use 
that charity which envieth not, is long suffering and 
thinketh no evil, until the proper action by the prop- 
er authorities, as taught in the Holy Scriptures, shall 
have been taken and the charges sustained. 

" '3rd We will endeavor faithfully to lead our 
charges to the observance of the discipline left us in 
the New Testament, both as to public and private of- 
fences. We confess with shame that that discipline 
has been sadly neglected among us. 

kk '4th. Agreeing as we do upon the fundamental 
articles of faith, as they appear in the summary of 
our faith, we leave to the churches in their independ- 
ent characters, according to Bible and Baptist princi- 
ples, to dispose of other matters brought before them; 
such as the reception, dismission and excommunica- 
tion of members, being cofident that the action of 
any such church should be tolerated and acquiesced 
in, by every other sister church. And we further 
declare that we will entertain no question respecting 
the proper church membership of brethren, belong- 
ing to secret societies, remitting this qustion to those 
competent to bear witness in the case and decide it. 
In this connection, we will add that the propriety of 
feet wasing, within or without the churches, is left to 
the conscience of the church and the brethren. 

' %i 5th. We covenant to allow the fullest liberty of 
opinion, not inconsistent with our received articles 
of faith, provided those opinions are not attempted 
to be forced upon others. 

'"6th. We covenant to allow each other and our 
respective charges full liberty of opinion respecting 
the instruction of the children in Bible schools, sin- 
cerely desiring to be found in this, as all other mat- 
ters, on the side of righteousness, and in love and 
friendship with each other. 



THE EBENEZER ASSOCIATION. 393 

'"7th. This covenant is subscribed for our mutual 
strength and engouragement in spiritual things, and 
we trust in the fear of God." — See Regular Baptist 
Magazine, vol. 12, No. 18, pp. 181,182. 

"For this covenant there is no authority in God's 
word. It is contrary to Baptist principles and prac- 
tices; subversive of God's given rites of the church; 
destructive to her liberties; disparaging to her dignity 
and honor, and a wanton attempt, on the part of the 
parties who entered into it, to trample under foot the 
body of Christ, which is the church. We know of no 
precedent for it, but the corrupt Preachers Union of 
England and Scotland. 

This was a monstrous attempt by a few elders 
and pastors of churches composing the Ketocton, Ebe- 
nezer and other associations. Yea a God defiant one 
to overthrow His churches and His government of 
them, and submit them to their own use. Hence the 
necessity of binding their timid ones as firmly as pos- 
sible, 'to stand shoulder to shoulder and walk hand 
in hand with them.'" 

At the session of the Ebenezer association held at 
Robertson Run, August 23rd and 24th, 1889. There 
was an effort to supress the reading of the circular 
letter, and to substitute for it, the articles of faith, as 
set forth by Elders William Fristoe; and E. H. Bur- 
nam made this effort; but the circular letter was read 
as here presented. 

''The Ebenezer Association to the churches of which 
it is composed sendeth Greeting: 

honored and boloved brethren : — Time's rapid 
and resistless flight has again brought us together as 
an associate body, and in conformity with a custom 
coeval with our existence as an association, we ad- 
dress this our annual epistle, and it would be a de- 
lightful theme on which to dwell, if we could come to 



394 FOOTSTEPS OP THE FL.OCK. 

you with the joyful intelligence that all is peace, that 
all is love throughout our borders. It would be sweet 
to unite with Solomon in his lovely song, singing, 
"For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; 
the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the sing- 
ing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is 
heard in our land" — Song 2; n. 12, but, alas ! instead 
of this aweet song of rejoicing, sadness and coldness 
come up from almost every part of our body. But 
amid all the strife and gloom there is one glorious ut- 
terance ringing out from the throne of God most 
high, upon which our weary, care-worn, sin-burden- 
ed souls can rest, and all is peace. 

"It was Paul's comfort and solace when all was 
dark, and in the midst of general departure, he wrote 
to Timothy his son in the Gospel;he told him of Hyme- 
neus,and Phyletus.'who concerning the truth had err- 
ed and overthrew the faith of some.' Those men had 
gotten up a new departure with regard to the resurrec- 
tion. But Satan does not care in what that depart- 
ure consists, provided he can only get us to err from 
the truth, and thereby produce strife and discord 
among the Lord's dear people. But for the 
comfort of the saints in all ages, Paul is inspired to 
write, 'Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth 
sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that 
are His,' 2 Tim. n. 18. This sweet assurance is our 
comfort amid all the storms and departures with 
which we may be afflicted. 

"Though twice ten thousand sinners go 
Down to the realms of endless woe, 
His word from all mutation free 
The guard of his elect shall be." 

"And Paul speaking of the errorists of his day, and 
his readiness to oppose every innovation, says, 'To 



.THi: EBENEZER ASSOCIATION. 395 

whom shall we give place by subjection ? No, not for 
an hour, that the truth of the gospel might remain with 
you.' This is the spirit of loyalty to our King, Oh ! 
brethren, death is preferable rather than disobedience. 
God has committed to his church the high and holy 
trust of being the conservators of His truth, and of pre- 
serving a pure Gospel in the world unmixed with hu- 
man tradition. Shall we be recreant to the high and 
holy trust? Shall we in these last times prove our- 
selves unworthy of such a sacred trust? Have we 
in the past suffered so many things in vain — if it be 
indeed in vain? 'Then is the offence of the cross 
ceased.' No church that has a name on this globe, 
but the one of which we profess to be a part, has 
in all ages protested against the introduction of every 
human scheme and all inventions of men. This has 
made us peculiar, differing from all else in our relig- 
ion. And shall we, dear brethren, of the 19th cen- 
tury and of the Ebenezer Association, reach forth our 
puny hands Uzzah like, or accept the inventions of 
brethren once dear to us, to prevent the ark of God 
from falling ? No, rather let the ark fall than sus- 
tain it by human hand, uncommanded by the great 
King- Or shall we like Sampson lay our head in De- 
lilah's lap, to be shorn of our locks, and have the 
world taunt us, saying : See they have become as one, 
of us? Between the years of 1815 and 1835, the first 
never-to-be-forgotten struggle occurred in this coun- 
try over the effort to introduce the foreign mission en- 
terprise and Sunday schools for the public religious 
training of children in classes. This effort to press 
these innovations resulted in a division, and the 
church and the world will forever hold those respon- 
sible that introduced the new things, for all the sor- 
rows of that division. Who would have supposed 
then that history would so soon repeat itself among 



396 FOOTS! EP^ OF THE FLoCK. 

us. "That even of our own selves men would arise' 
advocating 'letter and point" the very things we 
had rejected, and press them with a zeal and tenacity 
worthy of a better cause. And just here to vindicate 
his name from misrepresentation,! will give a quota- 
tion from the pen of dearBro. Clark, of blessed memory, 
in a discussion with the editor of the Religious Her- 
ald, Richmond, Va., as to which, of the cwo stood on 
the platform of the apostle, and Primitive Christians. 
Eld. Clark says: 'We take it for granted th it there 
can be no dispute as to the platform itself, or what 
constitutes it, that the Scriptures, the infallible 
standard of truth, contains all that is embraced in 
that platform; and, of course, all that is necessary 
for us to know, believe or do. Now we find the editor 
a warm advocate for a great variety of institutions 
in the churches and associations, to say nothing of 
any system of doctrines as the basis of such institu- 
tions, and we bring him to the standard to test the 
soundness of his views on the subject. We shall not 
undertake to enumerate them (the institutions) as we 
may almost say, their name is legion, but would re- 
spectfully ask the Herald, Where within the limits of 
its acknowledged platform does the authority exist 
for these things? The Master said to his apostles, 
"Teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I 
have commanded you." Where then are to be found 
his commands for the observance of these things? 
The Herald fights valiantly for the truth in support 
of the primitive mode of baptism, and, in some in- 
stances, as has been acknowledged, has put to flight 
the advocates of rantism,but why can't it see and ac- 
knowledge, that there is as much proof in the Scrip- 
tures, in support of the Pedo-Baptist theory of bap- 
tism, as there if for any of the institutions of which it 
is the advocate. Indeed, the editor admits incautious- 



THE EBENEZER ASSOCIATION. 397 

]y ibat those instilutk ns are not upon tne apostolic 
platfoim. In his reference to our withdrawing on 
account of them, in which he says, 'The benevolent 
operations thai \ distinguish the present age,' now if 
these are apostolic, why did h^ not say, 'That dis- 
tinguish the apostolic age?' But he correctly ex- 
pressed it. They do truly distinguish this age, but 
were unknown to the primitive age, and in purer and 
better days of the church.' Thus wrote that eminent 
servant of God whom we all delight to 
honor. See Advocate, Vol. i. page 81. He distinctly 
tells us that all and every one of these institutions 
are of the ''earth earthy" and he tells us that he with- 
drew from one party of Missionary Baptist on ac- 
count of the introduction of these institutions, and 
would he not withdraw from from another party for 
the same reasons'? He says, on page 97,1st Vol. Advo- 
cate: ' Wejbelong to that order called Old School, and by 
that we understand, in regard to salvation, all that 
is embraced in the doctrine of grace, the grace of 
God that bringeth salvation, and a strict construc- 
tion of the Scriptiues throughout.' So say we, and 
we do not mean, neither did our departed brother 
mean, Old School as inappropriately applied by the 
advocates of the implantation theory, which we do 
not believe. 

"And just here we will give a quotation from the 
pen of our dear Brother Lauck, that all the churches 
may know just what his sentiments were, who though 
dead yet speaketh, in a letter telling of a tour in Ken- 
tucky, after speaking of the disciples and followers 
of Elder Beebe, he thus describes our people, 'But 
the great body of the old Regular Baptist,with whom 
I had the pleasure of mingling, wholly discard them 
and maintain inviolably the peculiarities of the de- 
nomination equally distant from the Arminian Mis- 



398 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

sionary and humanly devised institutions and the 
visionary theories of wild speculators and modern ab- 
stractionists.' Thus spoke this man of God. He 
tells us that the distance is equal between us and 
missionism with all their humanly devised institutions 
and Beebe's will theories, and he spoke truly, and 
now beloved brethren, shall we leave the 'more sure 
word of Prophecy' and the path pointed out by those 
qlessed brethren, to follow lesser lights into the very 
things from which they withdrew, and against which 
they warmed us ? N"o, 'we are persuaded better 
things of you, though we thus speak.' We have 
seen recently in the R. B. M. the following declara- 
tion — Pres. Vol. Page 91 — editorial : 'To hold that 
men are quicken-begotten by direct contact with the 
Holy Ghost, independent of means or instrumentali- 
ties, involves of necessity tha*, monstrous theory that 
the one begotten, born, is a little God, a young God.' 
''This is monst rous, but it is put forth as a basis of 
doctrine upon which to rest all the institutions that 
have been or may be introduced among our people. 
And now we ask, Is there a member in our body that 
believes that God the Holy Spirit is shut up to instru- 
mentalities, that He cannot quicken a sinner without 
an instrument ? Such a statement is an insult to the 
Divine Spirit, and ought to be to every Christian 
heart, who is zealous for the honor of that Spirit 'by 
which they are sealed until the day of redemption,' 
and it is expressly laid down in God's Word, as the 
sovereign personal work of the Holy Spirit to quicken 
and sanctify the redeemed by his power, and 'make 
them meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the 
saints in the light ?' We unhesitatingly reject the 
doctrine that teaches that the holy spirit cannot re- 
generate a sinner without an instrument, as being un- 
paralleled in lettters since the days of Mr. Campbell. 



THE EBENEZER ASSOCIATION, 399 

But we may be asked, If we do not send a missionary 
to the heathen will they not all be lost? Who hatfi 
required this at your hands? God will perform his 
own work in his own time, without our aid. Let us 
be content to do our own work, deal justly, love mer- 
cy, and walk humbly before God, and thereby be fol- 
lowers of God as dear children. In Vol. i. page 57 2, 
of the R. B. M , we have the following from Elder 
E. H. Burnam: 'The mission of the church is to re- 
buke the world by being separate from its vanities 
and frivolous amusements. Faith and prayer cannot 
exist in lively exercise in the midst of worldly and 
sensual assemblies. "Whosoever will be a friend of 
the world is an enemy of God. " — Jas. iv. 4. The va- 
rious institutions of the day should be avoided as be- 
ing of a purely worldly character. They stimulate 
fleshly lusts which war against the soul, weaken the 
influence of the church for good, and to engage 
in them is to dispise the mercies of God. Rom. 
xii. 1. It is the plain obligation of the children of 
God to be steadfast in the faith and to 
contend earnestly for it. Grevious wolves shall 
enter into the flock and from their midst shall men 
arise speaking preverse things to draw away disci- 
ples after them. Therefore the greater is the neces- 
sity for the followers of Christ to be well established 
in the doctrines of the Gospel, allowing not the least 
departure from those holy principles which lie at the 
foundation of the Christian religion.' Thus spoke 
Elder Burnam twenty years ago. And now brethren 
what shall we say? The eyes of all are upon us, our 
brethren are in distress, the churches confused, they 
look for a word from us— shall we sit like children 
afraid to speak? Already we have foreign mission- 
ism with female missionaries and other institutions 
of this age 'whom not only Ephesus but the world 



400 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

worshipeth,' endeavoring to be introduced among us. 
"These thing have destroyed the peace of some, and 
divisions stare us in the face. We can truly say we 
want peace among ourselves, peace at home. We 
depricate division. We have not a brother or sis- 
ter to spare, and we can truly say we have no fellow- 
ship for the things just named. They have caused 
us trouble, and we beseech their authors and advo- 
cates to spare us. Let us alone. We cannot receive 
your institutions, and we would advise and beseech 
our brethren and the churches of our body to 'mark 
them that cause division and offences contrary to the 
doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.' — 
Rom. xvi. 17. And now we know except the Lord 
keep the city the watchman waketh but in vain. Were 
it in our power to preserve the peace and prosper- 
ity, love and union, of all the churches of Christ, the 
saints of God 'in the faith of the Gospel,' we should 
not be charged with delinquency in the performance 
of our duty in that respect; 

"Tears should from both my weeping eyes 
"In ceaseless torrents flow; 

"But if discord and division must be forced upon usor 
we accept the new born bantlings among us, then in 
the last dark hour of trial, we can but retire to our 
tent, wrap our blanket around us, and lie down and 
die, with the mournful words dying on our lips, 

My soul shall pray for Zion still. 

"Andnow may the peace of God be upon you, and the 
good will of Him that dwelleth in the bush be with 
you, is the prayer of the unworthy writer, 

Benj. Lampton. 

Tho adoption of this Circular letter was the 
death knell of the means party in the Ebenezer Asso- 



THE EBENEZER ASSOCIATION 401 

ciation, and a complete and unquestionable identifi- 
cation of them with the New School party, for which 
the Old School Baptist declared non fellowship in 
1832, (read their address.) 

In the minutes of the Ebenzer Association held 
the next year, with Alma Church, Page County, 
Va., August 22nd and 23rd, is the following: 

Art. 5. '-The motion to drop Mt. Carmel Church 
from the fellowship of this association, on the charge 
that she retains as her pastor, Elder C. L. Yates, who 
teaches the doctrines of means and instrumentalites 
in the regeneration of sinners and advocates Sunday 
Schools, and is guilty of serving a body of regularly ex- 
cluded members, as their pastor. Furthermore, a 
considerable number of the said Mt. Carmel Church 
hold, teach and practice the heresies above mention- 
ed, for which things we have no fellowship. The 
above, being offered as a motion, was seconded, and 
by the vote of the association, the said church was 
dropped from the fellowship of the association." 

The Circular Letter of that session of the asso- 
ciation, is a repetition of the declarations and utter- 
ance given from time to time by the Old School Bap- 
tist against men made institutions, agencies and in- 
strumentalities for the salvation of sinners and evan- 
gelization of the world. Mt. Carmel having rid her- 
self of C. L. Yates and his party, was restored to fel- 
lowship at the next meeting of the association. 

Their Association. We quote from the minutes of 
their first association. 

''Pursuant to a request made by Bethel Church 
Fairfax County, Va., eight churches, to day, met by 
letter and messengers, at Salem Meeting House, 
Clarks County, Va., viz; Bethel, Mt. Carmel, Salem, 
Thornton's Gap, Smith Creek, Union, Strawsburg 
and Robinson River," 

26 



402 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

"The object of the meeting is to re-organize the 
Ketocton Association upon the principles and prac- 
tices maintained by that body as originally consti 
tuted, and in consonance with the revealed will of 
God in His Holy Word." 

How deceptive ! The heresies for which the Ke- 
tocton Association declared non-fellowship in 1834, 
were not known among the Baptist when that Asso- 
ciation was constituted; but made their appearance 
many years after that event, and being disapproved 
by her, drew forth from her the declaration of non- 
fellowship as quoted above, and by which she firmly 
stands to-day. 

Did Bethel Church call for that meeting ? We 
answer, We think not. Bethel is today an honoured 
firm and steadfast member of the time honoured 
Ketocton Association and heartly approves all her 
past acts. We think parties, who are un- 
der the covenant they are bound by, quot- 
ed above, did the work and are responsible for it to 
God and man. We think this party caused some to 
err, and depart from the faith they once professed, 
and for which departure they were excluded from 
the fellowship of Bethel Church, to consent to a call 
for that meeting. These excluded persons certainly 
were not Bethel Church. 

Now for the other churches which they claim 
went with them. Robertson River, Thornton's Gap, 
nor Smith's Creek, all of which belong to the Eb- 
enzer Association and are in full fellowship with 
her, but the parties which had been seduced and were 
excluded from those churches were represented. 

Can any one see what excuse that faction can 
give, for attempting the unholy act of reorganizing, 
or reconstructing the time honored Ketocton Asso- 
ciation, more than any other people had, who had 



THE FOOTPRINTS GF THE FLOCK TO-DAY. 403 

never belonged to any of the churches constituting 
that attempt, stood justly excluded from the fellow- 
ship of the churches composing said association in- 
dividually, and from the association, collectively, as 
a people. 



CHAPTEK XLII. 

FOOTPRINTS OF THE FLOCK TO-DAY. 

Now in conclusion, I submit the follower- 
ing summary of faith, as the doctrines, held and be- 
lieved by the Primative or Old School Baptist at this 
day, and ask, are not they the very Footsteps of the 
Flock ? 

Art. 1. We believe there is one, ever living and 
true God, that He is self-existent and independent, in 
whom all power, wisdom, holiness, justice, goodness, 
and truth center, Who is Omniscient and Omnipotent 
the Almighty Creator of all things that do exist, 
vissible and invisible, who upholds and governs all 
things by His power according to the counsel of His 
own will. 

Art. 2. That in the Divine Essence, there are 
(according to the Scripture) three persons or subsis- 
tances, distinguished by the relative names of Father 
Son and Holy Ghost, that each possesses proper diety, 
that the work of creation is ascribed to their, divine 
name, and in the name of the Three in One the New 
Testament ordinances are to be administered. 

Art. 3. That the Holy Scripture of the Old and 



404 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

New testaments are the word of God, were given by 
inspiration and comprehend everything necessary 
for us to know concerning God and the direction of 
our obedience to Him, therefore should be implicitly 
obeyed in all things. 

Art. 4. That man was created upright, free from 
sin, and death, possessed with holiness of nature; 
that he fell from that state, became morally dead, 
and subjected himself to bodily and eternal death, 
and as a public head involved his unborn progeny in 
like ruin, for all descending from him by ordinary 
generation are born in a state of pollution, under the 
dominion of sin, and are guilty before God. 

Art. 5. That in eternity, God of His own good 
pleasure chose a certain number of Adam's progeny 
to eternal life, and that He did not leave the accom- 
plishment of His decrees to accident or chance, but 
chose them to salvation through sanctification of the 
Spirit unto obedience, and the sprinkling, of the blood 
of Jesus Christ. Their calling was decreed in the 
purpose of election, and when they are called, it is 
according to His purpose and grace, given in Christ 
Jesus before the world began, and manifest the glory 
of that grace. 

Art. 6. That the covenant of redemption was be- 
tween the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that the elect 
were given by the Father to the Son to be by Him 
redeemed, and to the Holy Spirit to be regenerated 
and created anew, not of corruptible, but of incon- 
ruptable seed, that they may be their head and repre- 
sentative, performing all things necessary to com- 
plete their salvation. The Father gave, the Son re- 
deemed, and the Holy Spirit seals with the Holy 
Spirit of promise. It is called in Scripture a cove- 
nant well ordered in all things and sure. 



THE FOOTPRINTS OF THE FLOCK TO-DAY. 405 

Art. 7. That in the fullness of time, the Son of 
God was manifested by taking human nature upon 
Himself, in which capacity He wrought out a righte- 
ousness for the justification of His people, yielding 
a perfect and spotless obedience to all the require- 
ments of divine law, subjecting Himself to the shame- 
ful and ignominious death of the cross, as an atone- 
ment for their sins; and reconciliation of their souls 
to God. 

Art. 8. That those who are redeemed by Christ, 
are in due time called to a saving knowledge of the 
Lord Jesus, embrace Him as the only way to God 
and saviour of poor sinners. The effectual calling is 
accomplished by the Holy Ghost operating in an ir- 
resistible and infrustrable manner upon the heart, 
enlightning the understanding and subjecting the 
will to Christ. Hence the Scriptures testify that they 
are made willing in the day of His power. This in- 
ternal change or new birth in the soul is wholly as- 
cribed to the power of God, for it is said of the re- 
generate, They are begotten of God, born of God — 
all expressive that it is the Lord's work and He is en- 
titled to the praise. 

Art. 9. All who are effectually called by effica- 
cious grace, are freely justified of God. The righte- 
ousness and perfect obedience of Christ being im- 
puted to them, their sins are pardoned, and their per- 
sons accepted in God's beloved Son. Such are taken 
under the care of the Great Shepherd of souls, and 
rest on the infallible promises and power of God; 
who engages to protect them under their trials, to 
succor them when tempted to supply all their needs, 
and withhold no good thing from them, to continue 
the good work of grace begun in them, and to crown 



406 FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK. 

the end of their faith in the complete salvation of 
their souls. 

Art. 10. That the gospel or preached word, points 
to Christ, saying ''behold the Lamb of God which 
taketh away the sin of the world." Gospel ministers 
are "not that light," but are sent to bear witness of 
that light." The gospel do^s not give the hearing- 
ear, nor the seeing eye — they are of the Lord. The 
gospel does not impart life. "It is the Spirit 
that quickeneth," but it is the glad tidings of salva- 
tion through a crucified Saviour, therefore the proph- 
et of the Lord cried, saying r 'The Spirit of the Lord 
is upon me because the Lord hath annointed me to 
preach good tidings to the meek, He hath sent me to 
bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the 
captives, and the opening of the prison to them that 
are bound. To proclaim the acceptable year of the 
Lord, and the day of 'he vengeance of our God, to 
comfort all that mourn," Isa. xvi. 1, 2, 3; and should 
be preached to every creature. The promises of the 
gospel to are believers only. 

Art. 11. That being bought with the precious 
blood of Christ and called by his rich grace, it becomes 
their boundenduty to walk in all the commandments 
and ordinances of the Lord, separating themselves 
from the world, and all worldly institutions, command- 
ments , doctrines, and ordinances of men, and cleave 
with full purpose of heart, to ihe word of God as 
the man of their counsel, as being dead unto the 
world and alive unto God, as chaste and pure virgins 
espoused unto one husband, forsaking all others, 
cleaving to him only. 

Art. 12. That there will be a resurrection of the 
dead, both of the just and unjust. That when Christ 
appears in the clouds of Heaven, with the sound of 



THE FOOTPRINTS OF THE FLOCK TO-DAY 407 

the trumpet the dead saints shall rise incorruptible 
and re-united to their souls, then shall they together 
with the living saints be caught up to meet the Lord 
in air, the and so shall be with the Lord forever. The 
wicked shall be raised in that sinful state in which 
they died, and will be sentenced to unspeakable 
torment forever and forever. 



END. 



AUG 2 6 1902 



AUG 2 6 1902 



] tun l/li. 

AUG. 26 1902 



